The Real World
by applesandcherries
Summary: Samantha's past catches up with her, changing her beloved normal life in the blink of an eye. Challenges are awaiting her, love will be found and families will be reunited. See, how one year can change your life forever. For better or worse. SJ, little MS
1. Chapter 1

WaT/Harry Potter x-over

Pairing: Sam/Jack

Season: Season 3/ Harry Potter 5

Rating: Slightly AU, PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't owe anything of this, except for the idea to put those two fantastic genres together.  
Without a Trace and its characters belong to the wonderful Hank Steinberg and Jerry Bruckheimer; Harry Potter and all what comes along with him, belong to Joanne K. Rowling. (And please don't sue me, because I borrowed a few sentences from the books. I promise, it won't anything happen to them.)

A/N: This story has been rotting away on my hard-drive for over a year now, because I wasn't so happy with it anymore. Still ain't, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.  
Oh, and it would be nice not to take the dates in this fic too seriously. I am a fan of the books, but I am not that big into it, that I know every character that appeared once in them. And I know, that the age differences don't always fit, and I'm sorry.

Thanks for listening to my rambling, guys! Have fun!

**Chapter One**

England, 1988

Little Whinging, Surrey, Privet Drive - Night.

The Street lamps were spending no light, covering the street into darkness.

Three figures emerged from the shadows, whispering to each other, not wanting to be seen or heard.

"I hope we did the right thing, Albus." Minerva McGonagall said to a man with a long white beard, which was stuffed into his belt, and glasses shaped like half-moons.

"We did, Minerva. This way, Harry can grow up like a normal boy, not like the boy who will soon be famous. And he is save."

There was a sneeze behind them, as the half-giant Hagrid made use of his handkerchief, blowing his nose.

McGonagall rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

Albus Dumbledore made sure to return the lights back to their lamps, before the three figures vanished into the night.

USA, 1988

Kenosha, Wisconsin - Night.

A teenage girl was sitting on a bus stop, rain pattering against the small roof.

She could hear the sirens in the distance. She sighed. The girl had hoped that they wouldn't find her so soon.

A minute later, the police car came to a stop besides the bus stop, a woman getting out, seeking protection from the rain under her jacket.

"Samantha, come on. Let's go home."

"No."

Her mother sighed.

"We have got to figure out a way to live under the same roof." She said, her voice cracking a bit.

"Like you care how I feel!" Samantha snapped. "Just stop and let me leave."

"Samantha, you can't run from what you are! Your grandfather is back home, waiting for you. We can talk about this."

"I don't want to talk about it. I just wanna have a normal life!"

"You and I aren't normal people, Samantha. Please, come home and let's talk. If you still want to leave, I will not stop you." Her mother said, taking Sam's suitcase, going back to the car.

A moment later, Samantha followed.

USA, 2004

New York City, New York - Night

Night had fallen over the city, and the dust of the day began slowly to settle. People were enjoying the coolness that had finally come after a too hot summer day. The night sky was clear and its stars sparkled high above the city, diving it in a beautiful shimmer. But the people were too busy to notice, as they were too busy to notice the two loud _'crack's _coming from a side alley. Two men, covered in dark robes appeared apparently from nowhere. A third man, wearing the same clothes, was already waiting for them.

"You have found her?" asked the first one with a voice as cold as his eyes.

The third man suppressed a shudder and hastily replied, "Yes, my lord. The one you were looking for is living not far from here, but it would be more effective to visit her at her work. She's almost living there, sir."

He glanced at the second man, who came with his master, but this one said nothing. He only concentrated and surveyed the area, looking for intruders.

"Was she aware of you? We don't want her to know just yet."

"No, my lord. She wasn't aware of me watching her. She's absolutely unaware of what is going on, my lord.", the third replied quickly, hoping he wouldn't say anything to upset his master.

"Good. Give me the address, then you may go."

After giving him what he was asking for, the third quickly apparated with a loud _'crack'_, before his master could change his mind.

The other two soon followed, leaving the alley as empty as it had been before this unusually encounter.

Her high heels clicked rhythmically on the polished floor, as Special Agent Samantha Spade entered the FBI building in New York City.

It was early morning; the usual working hours still a couple of hours distant.

But she didn't care. She couldn't sleep, nightmares about a dark alley making it impossible for her to get a good nights sleep. So she decided to go to work and get some paperwork done, before the others arrived. She greeted the doorman and made her way to the elevator. After pushing the right bottom to the right floor, she waited patiently for it to open the doors again.

With a small '_ding_' it announced its arrival and she stepped out and onto the familiar floor of the 'Missing Persons Unit', she had been working on for a good few years.

She was mildly surprised when she saw light in her boss's office. She should've known that he was already there. Or was he _still_ there?

Jack Malone hadn't noticed her arrival, so she stood in the doorway to his office, watching him silently. His shirt was rumpled, his tie discarded on the floor a long time ago. His hair was standing up wildly from his head. Sam couldn't help the smile that was creeping on her face. _'He's so damn cute, when he looks like that…No, what are you thinking. He's always cute. Damn it, Spade! Get a grip on yourself!'_

She cleared her throat and made him aware of her presence.

His head shot up, slightly startled.

"Sam! You want to give an old man a heart attack? What are you doing here this early?", he asked in his usual gruff behavior, but there was always a warm glint in his eyes when he talked to her.

"Good morning to you, too." She replied with an unreadable look on her face. "I could ask you the same thing, you know?"

He grunted and waved his hand for her to come in. She sighed and took a seat across from him.

"So…", she began, not sure what to say. It was a little complicated between them, after he announced he would be going to Chicago, to make things work with his wife. Then he came back, saying Maria and he would be getting a divorce. She would have been relieved to hear this a while ago, as terrible as it may sound, but now she was happy with Martin. Well, she thought she was, that is.

She was so lost in thought, that she hadn't noticed that Jack was staring at her.

"What?!"

It seemed he hadn't noticed, too. He looked startled again and went back to pretend he would be reading case files.

"Nothin'", he muttered.

Samantha sighed again, putting her fingers to the bridge of her nose, trying to get the starting headache under control.

"Jack…what is it!", she hissed exasperated.

A long time, he just stared at her again, and then he stated bluntly, "I can't quite imagine you with Martin."

That left her speechless and all she could do was to stare right back at him.

A few minutes passed in silence, before she had her voice back.

"How'd you know?", she whispered, not sure if she really wanted to know.

"It took me some time, but I eventually figured it out.", was his response.

She really didn't expect his next question when she sat down on this damn chair a while ago.

"Do you love him?"

She blinked once, then twice, not exactly sure if he really did say, what she thought he had said. As it finally registered in her brain, that he had indeed asked her that particular question, she could only mumble, "I don't know."

What she really wanted to say was, '_Not the way I love you!_' He seemed not quite convinced by her answer and she could almost swear he was reading her mind, because the next thing she knew, was, that he was suddenly standing in front of her, grabbing her arm gently, but powerfully and bringing her to her feet.

And if he hadn't held her, she would have met the floor right now, because her knees became weak, as soon as she could feel his lips on hers. Before she knew what she was doing, she was already responding to his kiss with an intensity she didn't knew she still possessed. '_Martin, you have Martin! What the hell are you doing?! God, this feels so good…_' She could feel Jack smiling into the kiss as she slung her arms around his neck to hold him even closer.

Slowly, reality dawned on them and soon they were back in the real world.

Hesitantly, they parted, but couldn't bring themselves to fully break contact.

Still holding her in his arms, Jack looked around. Thankfully there wasn't anyone else yet.

Smiling at each other, they kissed again.

What they didn't know was, that they were not alone at all.

From under his Invisibility cloak, Lucius Malfoy stood watching as such a powerful witch like Samantha Spade was kissing a Muggle. He despised her with all his being. Not only did she leave the wizarding world to have a 'normal' life, she also pretended she wasn't one of them. A devilish grin sneaked across his face. Her so called 'normal life' wouldn't last much longer. _'It was almost time…'_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to serataja, pealee, Dark Phoenix Rising, sarah973 and marialisa, for taking the time to review. I'm glad you guys like the story so far! **

**Hope, you enjoy this chapter, too!**

**Chapter two**

Around noon and after a morning of secret glances and subtle touches - and a lot of paperwork, since neither Sam nor Jack got any of it done, as they had intended, before their little encounter this morning - Samantha was getting a little uncomfortable with the curious and slightly suspicious glances she was getting from Martin. But, Jesus, she couldn't help the smile that was etched over her face all morning.

She really didn't want to hurt Martin and his feelings, but the sooner she set things straight with herself and with him, the better.

She shuddered at the thought of what was to come. This was what she hated all along.

It was lunchtime.

'_Best to get it over with',_ she thought and took an unsteady breath.

"Martin. Could I talk to you, please?" she asked as she approached him in the break room. He looked up from the magazine he had been reading and swallowed the sandwich he had been chewing on.

"Sure. What's up?" he asked and smiled at her.

She swallowed, too. Sam took the seat across from him and sighed.

This was being more difficult than she thought.

"I…I think…", she swallowed again. Why was this so hard? She had done this before.

"Sam, what is it? You're making me nervous." He said and took her hand on the table, giving it a slight squeeze.

She looked him straight in the eye, trying not to blink, afraid that she would break.

"I think it would be the best, if we wouldn't see each other anymore outside of work…I'm sorry Martin."

He stared at her, not sure what to say.

"But…why? We were great, weren't we?" Martin asked, with a confused and slightly hurt expression on his face.

That was what she had feared most. The hurt, she could see in his eyes.

"Yes, we were. _You_ were great. You _are_ a great guy, Martin and I care a lot for you. But I think I wasn't into our relationship as much as you were. I'm really sorry."

He couldn't stand her gaze anymore and looked at the table.

"It's because of Jack, isn't it? You said your feelings for him were fading, but I don't think they were fading at all."

She couldn't answer, her mouth suddenly dry as a desert. But she didn't need to.

He nodded, understanding. "It's okay. I think I knew it all along. I just couldn't admit it to myself." He gave her hand another squeeze, then let go.

Looking back in her eyes, he said "I just want you to be happy. As much as a cliché it may sound."

Standing up and throwing his sandwich into the garbage can, not hungry anymore, he made his way to the door.

Glancing back at her, he added "Good luck, Sam. I really hope you are not getting hurt by him again." Then he was gone.

Samantha squeezed her eyes shut, allowing a single tear to escape and drop onto the tabletop.

The old and magnificent castle Hogwarts, which stood venerable high on the hills to a large lake, presenting a fascinating view, was for a few hundred years home and school to many young witches and wizards, doing their best to become respected and powerful in the wizarding world.

Hogwarts was home to a young wizard, whose name and scar were as famous as the wizard who owed this scar to him, too. Harry Potter was only fifteen, but has looked death into the eye more often then he could count. That was a fact he owed to Lord Voldemort, too, just like the scar in lightening- form on his forehead.

It was summer and school terms had only begun two days ago. What was for others saddening with the fact of the end of the holidays, was a welcoming fact for Harry. He loved Hogwarts, as it was more home to him than the place he had been living in for eleven years, before he came to Hogwarts, learning how to do magic. Over the summer holidays he was living with his Uncle, Aunt and Cousin, the Dursleys. Muggles, which meant there wasn't one drop of magical blood in their veins. He, Harry, was living with them since he was one year old, after his parents were killed by the darkest wizard of all time. Lord Voldemort.

But he had survived, with only a scar on his forehead. That tragic fact made him famous in the wizarding world. He was the boy who lived.

Harry and his two best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, were wandering through the nearly deserted corridors, only here and there were sitting a few other students, chatting animatedly with their friends, enjoying the warm breathe outside.

Talking quietly over what happened in their last year in Hogwarts- mostly over the return of Voldemort- they stopped abruptly as they heard the voices of their teacher Professor McGonagall and their headmaster Professor Dumbledore talking with concerned voices to each other.

"And it is really for sure that he has found her?" asked McGonagall in a hushed tone.

"I dare say, yes. We must have seen this coming Minerva. We should have never allowed her to leave." Dumbledore answered in the same tone.

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared curious glances, creeping nearer to the classroom door.

McGonagall sighed.

"What should we do, Albus? We must warn her."

"Yes, yes. That we must. I have already send Remus to contact her. He should be back by tomorrow noon."

Remus Lupin was familiar to them. He was their teacher in '_Defences against the dark arts' _in their third year at school. He was the best teacher in that class they ever had. Sadly, he couldn't stay, since it was too dangerous for most of the parents to let a werewolf teach their children.

This year was the first time, that Dumbledore couldn't find someone to teach them in that class, but the year was still young. Who knew what was to come.

As the voices of the two Professors grew louder, Harry, Ron and Hermione made a hastily retreat in the other direction.

After they rounded the next corner, they came to a stop.

"Who do you reckon they were talking about? Who has found whom?", Ron asked his friends.

"Well, they were pretty concerned. I would say it has something to do with Voldemort - Oh, for god's sake, Ron!" Hermione snapped, as Ron had jumped badly by the mention of You-now-who's-name.

"I think Hermione is right. But who do you think he has found? What did they mean with 'We should have never allowed her to leave'?" Harry asked curiously.

They could only share questioning glances.

It was already late afternoon, by the time Jack got a chance to talk to Sam again. He had seen Martin storm out of the break room earlier, followed later by Samantha. Both of them were looking a little withdrawn.

Danny and Martin were interviewing a suspect in a case about a missing 39-year old woman, who did not come home this morning after her nightshift at the hospital and her husband had called the police. Her boss, Doctor Andrews, was the last one to see her. Now, he was sitting in the interrogation room.

Vivian was on the phone with the hospital and Sam was sitting at her computer, staring at the screen.

Jack approached her desk, sitting on the edge.

She looked at him and smiled slightly. "Hey."

He smiled back. "Hey. How are you doing?" he asked tentatively.

She let a small sigh escape her lips. "Fine, I think."

"How did he take it?"

Her eyes got wide. "How'd you know?"

"I saw him storm out of the break room and he's giving me these strange looks." He said, reaching subtly for her hand. "So, you okay?" He asked again, after she said nothing.

She sighed again. "Yeah…yeah. I'm glad I've made a choice, finally."

She smiled again at him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Good. You up for dinner tonight?"

"Sure, why not?" she replied and grinned.

From the hallway, Martin stood and watched with a heavy heart.

He jumped a little, when a male voice behind him asked, "Excuse me. Can you tell me where I can find Samantha Spade?"

Martin turned around and looked at a man with a haggard face, tired eyes and his brown hair was spiked with grey strands. He looked like nearly fifty, but as Martin took a closer look he was sure this man was just in his mid-thirties.

"And you are?" Martin asked, looking at the strangers strange clothes. He looked as if he had jumped out of a 50's movie.

The stranger spoke again. "My name is Remus Lupin." He extended his hand and Martin shook it. "Martin Fitzgerald. Why do you ask for Agent Spade? Maybe I can help you." Martin didn't know why he not just showed this…freak where Sam was.

"I don't think you can, Mr. Fitzgerald. I'm an old friend and would like to see her."

'_Friend? Sam has strange friends._' He pondered, but decided that it wouldn't hurt to take him to Samantha.

"She's over there. Please, follow me." Martin said and made his way over to his ex-girlfriend, which was still chatting with Jack Malone, but was joined by Viv and Danny.

"Samantha. Here's someone who would like to see you.", he announced as he and Mr. Lupin approached her desk.

She looked up and frowned.

Martin and Jack noticed that look and became alarmed.

"Hello Sam. It's been a long time." Remus smiled. "You look great."

Sam stood up and made a step towards him.

"Remus! What the hell are you doing here?", she sounded angry, but nonetheless, the next moment she was hugging him tightly.

He hugged her back, but then the smile vanished from his face and he looked seriously at her.

"Remus, what is it?" she asked anxiously after seeing the look on his face.

"Dumbledore has sent me. I am here to warn you and take you back with me." He explained.

"What?! No! I don't want to go back, Remus. Why should I?" she let go of his arm, she had still been holding and took a few steps back, away from him.

"Please, Samantha! Listen to me. He has found you. He knows where you are. It is too dangerous for you to stay.", he said calmly, trying to make her understand.

"Wait!!", Jack called exasperated, trying to make sense out of it. "What the hell is going on, Sam!"

"Yeah, I think we would all like to know." Danny threw in the conversation.

"We don't have time! He will be sending someone soon. Samantha, please we must go!" Remus said urgently, grabbing her arm.

"I can defend myself! I don't need Albus' help!" Sam replied and shook his hand off her arm.

"You don't understand. He's getting more powerful by the minute. Only in Hogwarts you are save!"

"You have heard her. She doesn't want to go." A cold voice, which was quite familiar to her, spoke from behind Lupin. Nobody had noticed that three other men in dark robes had approached.

Lupin swirled around, pulling something out of his pocket that looked like a stick for Jack, Martin, Viv and Danny. Only Sam didn't seemed to be surprised.

Remus stepped protectively in front of Samantha.

"Nobody has asked you, Malfoy!" he spat.

Malfoy laughed, which sounded like pure ice and Sam shivered.

He and his companions pulled out their own wands, pointing them at Remus.

"And what do you want to do? You know you don't have a chance against us. And Spade doesn't have her wand." He said and laughed again.

This time it was Lupins time to laugh. "Oh, but she has." He stated and pulled a second wand out of his jacket, giving it Samantha.

She took it hesitantly and as she touched it, a golden shimmer shortly surrounded her, swirling around her, emerging from her wand.

Jack and the others took a few steps back, shocked about what was happening. Luckily no one else was in the office, everyone was out in the field, or interviewing suspects.

Lucius Malfoy growled angrily, for he had hoped that she wouldn't be in possession of her wand again, just yet.

She was far too powerful for them, but she hadn't used magic in years, which could be to their advantage.

His followers were unsure of what to do, too, for they did know as well how powerful she was.

They had to try nonetheless. Otherwise, their Lord would be very angry.

Sam noticed their uncertainty and a small grin emerged on her face, provoking a shudder from Malfoy's fellows.

"If I were you, I would go right now.", she warned them in a low voice.

"Don't you dare tell us what to do!" Malfoy growled, aiming his wand at her.

Samantha took a step forward, standing in front of Remus this time and as she did so, raising her own wand.

"Be careful.", whispered Lupin from behind her.

Suddenly a devious grin spread across Lucius face and he aimed his wand at Jack instead. He didn't think he could hurt her physically, so he would hurt her mentally by taking her lover.

"_Avada Kedavra_!", he yelled and green lightening emerged from his wand, racing towards the man she loved.

"NO!" Samantha screamed and pushed Jack out of the way at the same time as Malfoy's death-curse hit her body, instead of Jack's.

Through the power of the impact, she was being hurled into her desk, which gave away under her.

Then, it was silent in the room, expect from the whispered '_No's_' coming from Remus, who knew what happened if the curse was spoken.

Lucius and his companions grinned self-assured, thinking they had won after all, welcoming the fact, that she had taken their work from them in the end.

Sam's team was too shocked to move, as Remus knelt down, checking against his better judgement his friends pulse… and was surprised to find one.

The grins vanished from Malfoy and his followers faces, as they saw Lupin slapping Samantha's face gently, calling her name softly. Their faces went white as they heard her groan.

"What the hell…" she muttered as she tried to open her eyes.

"That is impossible. Nobody has ever survived the '_Avada Kedavra-_ Curse'", Malfoy whispered.

"She must be truly powerful, to survive this curse", one of his companions mumbled, opening his mouth for the first time since arriving.

"I know she is powerful, you idiot!" Malfoy hissed. "Let's go!"

And with three loud '_crack's_', they were gone, leaving four stunning Muggles behind.

"Sam, are you all right?", Remus asked, while helping her to stand up.

"Ugh, just feeling like a dozen Hippogriffs were running over me.", she mumbled exhausted.

Remus grinned and said "She's okay.", directing it at her worried and very confused friends.

"What, for god's sake, just happened?" Jack asked, helping Sam to sit down.

Sam looked at him, saying "This curse is only meant for one thing - to kill. He was trying to kill you Jack."

He swallowed. "Thank you. For saving my life."

She smiled at him in return. "You're welcome, Jack."

"I don't want to sound rude, but what are you?", Danny quipped.

"Well, it looked a lot like magic, don't you think?", Viv replied with a slight smile on her face, at his confused expression.

Now, everyone looked expectantly at Sam and Lupin.

"She's right. Magic, that's it." Sam said, sighing deeply. She had hoped this wouldn't be necessary anymore, after she left the magical world to start a new life. That was nearly sixteen years ago and she had heard only bits and pieces about what was happening there. She decided to go, after the reign of Lord Voldemort was over, ended through a little child.

So, she told them about who she really was, where she came from, or rather, where she spent her school years and everything that was necessary for them to know.

After she had finished, there was for a moment shocked silence, but also curiosity.

"We must go Sam. Albus needs to know what happened.", Remus urged her softly.

"I know…", she whispered, while standing from her seat.

"Will we see you again?" Jack asked huskily, not wanting to let her go again.

She looked at him, smiling softly. "Yes, you will. I just don't know when."

After hugging each of her friends, she turned to Jack again, embracing him tightly. "I love you.", she whispered into his ear, that only he could hear her.

He smiled, nuzzling his face into her hair, saying softly "I love you, too."

They parted slightly, so they could see each others eyes. Sam closed the gap between them again, kissing him gently, producing a gasp from Danny and Viv, but not really caring about it.

After a moment they parted again, this time fully.

"Goodbye, guys!" Sam said and smiled at them again, then she turned to Remus, who smiled knowingly at her and said "Ready?"

"Let's go." Samantha agreed.

He nodded and with two loud '_cracks_' they disappeared.

Harry clutched his hand to his scar, wincing slightly, alarming his two best friends, which were sitting besides him at the long breakfast table.

"What is it?" Ron asked quietly, not wanting that somebody could overhear their conversation.

"It's hurting again." Harry hissed through clenched teeth. "Voldemort is really angry over something…", he said, pressing his eyes shut.

Hermione and Ron were casting concerned glances at him, wondering what lay ahead of them this year...


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm terribly sorry for the delay, but I didn't have a working internet connection for almost two weeks. I'm sure you can understand how much I suffered. LOL.  
****Anyways, I'm back now and I want to thank everyone who's reviewed the last chapter. You're my heroes. :) **

**Okay, now without further delay: Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.**

**Chapter three**

Remus Lupin and Samantha Spade apparated outside of Hogwarts, making their way through the gate and up the drive. Remus took his wand out again, tipped it to his head and with a low rustle he was wearing his typical clothes and robe again.

Sam grinned, but didn't follow his lead, preferably wearing her Muggle clothes.

They made their way through the large entry hall and Sam couldn't help but admit to herself that she had missed this place.

The two of them had reached the door to the great hall and could hear the chatter of the students enjoying their breakfast, carrying through the door. Remus was giving her a last questioning look and at her nod, opened the two heavy doors.

Everything fell silent, as they entered the hall and every pair of curious eyes was on them. Slowly, students started to whisper with their neighbours, as Sam and her companion made their way through the great hall until they reached the teachers table. Dumbledore stood and everything fell silent again.

He smiled warmly at the two newcomers and made his way around the long table, past the teachers, who were looking slightly as confused as the students, expect for Professor McGonagall, who was looking relived as she looked at Sam.

As Professor Dumbledore was finally standing before her, she couldn't hold the tears any longer that threatened to fall, since entering the great hall.

He spoke with his warm and friendly voice and smiled at her. "Samantha, my child. It is good to see you again. Welcome back. I am glad you are here at last."

"I am glad, too, grandfather."

The great hall was filled with curious whispers again, as soon as the soft words were uttered.

Everyone watched as the Professor was taking the woman in Muggle clothes in his arms, holding her as she wept softly.

But soon, she was in control of her emotions again, strength and confident radiating from her, sweeping through the room like a wave.

After getting rid of the last remnants of her little weakness, she turned her attention to Minerva McGonagall.

"Hello Minerva. It is good to see you again." Sam smiled.

The smile that appeared on McGonagall's face was one that the students of Hogwarts, school for witchcraft and wizardry, got not often to see. It was one of the warmth that they had seen in a long time.

"Samantha. I am so glad that you are finally back with us."

However the smile vanished from her face as she noticed the way Samantha was holding her arm in front of her stomach.

"Samantha, are you hurt? What happened? Let me see!" she added and was already on her way.

"No, no! It's nothing. Only a little scratch, really." But her attempt of negotiating out of this situation was fruitless. A moment later McGonagall was standing in front of her, lifting Sam's top a little and gasping at what she saw.

"I thought you were ordered to protect her and not let her get hurt!" she snapped at Remus who was muttering frantically to himself. Sam could only hear words like 'idiot', 'noticed something' and 'hurt'.

"Remus!" McGonagall snapped again as she got no response from him.

His head shot up. "I'm sorry. I couldn't do anything. It happened so fast. They were trying to kill a Muggle and Sam just jumped in front of the '_Avada Kedavra'_- curse." He babbled, but noticed as soon as the words had left his mouth, what he had said. He clutched his hand over his mouth.

Everything was silent as everyone stared at him. Samantha just glared at her friend.

A low voice carried from the far end of the teachers table through the room. "Do you know what you just said? It is impossible. Nobody has ever survived this curse." Severus Snape, teacher for '_Potions,' _said.

"I know full well what I have said, Severus!" Lupin spat back, "I know it must be impossible, but I saw it with my own eyes. She was hit by the curse and her only injuries are a few burn wounds."

He explained, pointing at Sam's stomach.

Snape was already opening his mouth for a retort, but Professor McGonagall interfered.

"Madame Pomfrey, would you be so nice to treat these injury?" she addressed Hogwarts nurse and at her nod, she turned back to Samantha.

"Please follow her Samantha. And it would probably be best to finish this conversation in the headmasters study after classes."

Samantha wanted to say that that wasn't necessary, that she was okay, but Madame Pomfrey was already at her side, gently grabbing her arm.

Sam had no choice but to follow.

As she made her way along the long tables, her gaze swept over a boy with a scar on his forehead. She smiled at him and got a slight smile in return.

As the two of them left the great hall, she could hear her grandfather remember the students to go back to breakfast and then go to their classes.

Meanwhile in the great hall, the conversations were back at their full height and it seemed that Sam had made a remaining impression.

At the Gryffindor table, the Weasley twins Fred and George were nearly drooling.

"Did you see how _hot_ she is? Do you think she has a boyfriend?" Fred asked around the table.

"I think she is a _little _too old for either of you, don't you think?" came the reply from Hermione Granger who was already annoyed by their attitude.

'_Boys and their hormones.' _She thought. Harry and Ron only grinned, their conversation from earlier shortly forgotten.

"Aww, Hermione! Love has nothing to do with age. It is the heart that counts." George threw back at her and she could only roll her eyes.

And as Lee Jordan, Fred and Georges best friend, joined the conversation as back-up for the twins, besides his comments about -…uhm…what was her name? Samantha?- Samantha's silky hair and her beautiful eyes, Hermione and Ginny Weasley, Ron's, Fred and Georges youngest and only sister, were taking into consideration to threw breakfast into the wind.

On the other tables, except for Slytherin of course (Samantha was Dumbledore's Granddaughter after all!), the two overheard nearly the exact same conversations. It seemed Samantha had left a spell on all males in the room.

"You should think they were talking about her being Dumbledore's granddaughter, or her surviving the death curse." Hermione mumbled and Ginny nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later they were ordered by McGonagall to go to their classes and after a few disappointed protest, the great hall began to empty, as the students made their ways to their classrooms.

Back in New York, Jack Malone's team, minus Samantha, were nearly done with getting rid of the chaos, the fight had left behind. They hadn't talked the whole time, not sure what to say and still a little too shocked from what they had witnessed.

Now, after they sat down, exhausted and confused after what had happened today, their brains began to process all of it slowly.

"I can't believe it…Sam's a…a…witch? Or what did she call it?" Martin muttered more to himself than to the others.

"It seems that way." Jack sighed, still trying to make sense out of it.

"But that is impossible. There is nothing like magic!" Danny protested vehemently.

"You saw what happened, Danny. What was it, if not magic?" Viv questioned, looking piercingly at him.

Danny sighed, muttering "I don't know." and trying to get his starting headache under control.

"It doesn't matter what or who she is! She's still Samantha Spade and we are still her friends, aren't we?" Jack said, staring at his co-workers and friends faces.

He smiled thankfully at them as they nodded.

"One more thing." He added "This should probably stay between us. And we should think of an excuse for all this." he pointed vaguely at the broken furniture.

They nodded again at him, letting him know, they stood behind him and Sam, no matter what happened.

Samantha was on her way from the hospital wing to her grandfather's study, as the first class was over and the students came bolting into the corridors, filling them with chatter and laughter.

As she made her way through the crowds of children and teenager, most of them stared at her as she passed them and were whispering to each other as they thought she wouldn't hear them anymore. She suppressed a grin, but as she saw a particular face in the crowd her grin faded and she made her way over to him.

He and his friends saw her coming, looking a little surprised.

She replaced her grin with a friendly smile.

"Excuse my boldness", she said, as she stopped before them, addressing the boy with the strange scar on his forehead, "…but I have this feeling that I know you."

She thought she knew who he was, but it was sixteen years ago and she had tried hard to forget what really happened. Now, she thought, it would be good to refresh her memory again.

His friends looked confused, then the girl said, "Of course you know him. Everyone knows him. He's Harry Potter."

"Why should I know him, Miss…" "Granger. Hermione Granger and this is Ronald Weasley." The girl introduced them.

"So…you say you don't know who he is?" she added incredulous.

"Hermione, I'm glad there is still somebody who doesn't know me." Harry said, smirking in Sam's direction.

"Yeah, well. But I would like to know, why she doesn't. She appears to be a witch. Uhm, you are a witch, right?" Hermione said, blushing a little.

"I am. But I left the wizarding world nearly 16 years ago to live in the Muggle world. After Voldemort was defeated." She smiled slightly, as Ron jumped a little at that name.

Hermione glared at him. "For god's sake, Ron!"

Then she directed her attention back at Samantha.

"So you lived the last years as a Muggle? And you had no contact to this world?" the girl asked curious.

"That's correct." Sam just said, only half lying.

"Oh, well. That would explain everything." And with a questioning look at Harry, she filled Samantha in on what happened and why Harry was so famous.

"That's quite a story." Sam said a little dumbfounded (she learned how to play her role, after all).

"I'm sorry what happened to your parents, Harry." And she really was.

"Thanks." He whispered.

Suddenly, Hermione gasped. "Oh, Harry, Ron. We're late for potions. Snape's gonna kill us!" she said after looking at the corridor again, noticing something was wrong.

The others noticed, too, that the corridor was empty, except for the four of them.

Sam smiled again. "Oh, don't worry. I think I'll come with you. Visiting my old friend Severus."

The three grinned at her and they made their way down to the _Potions _classroom.

"May I ask you something, Miss…uhm, Samantha?" Ron questioned, while fiddling nervously with his robe.

"Sure, Ron. Or should I say Mr. Weasley?" he shook his head and she nodded for him to go on.

"You said you know Snape. But you don't look like you could have been at school at the same time, do you? I mean, he's probably a few years older than you." He blushed slightly at that.

"You are right, Ron. He's older than me. But I skipped a few classes. I made my graduation with fifteen and I begun my classes here a little earlier as ordinary, so he was in his last class when I begun." She added mysteriously.

Hermione stared at her. "You must be a genius!"

Samantha only chuckled, not noticing the look that Harry gave her...

**A/N2: Please try to ignore my really insane explanation about how Sam happened to be at Hogwarts at the same time as Snape and the others. But I absolutely had no clue what to write at the time...blush I hope you don't hate me now.**

**Just tell me, what you think. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks again, to everyone who's reviewed the last chapter. You guys are great. :)**

**Chapter four**

As Harry opened the door, everyone was already there and he saw Draco Malfoy grinning deviously at him.

As soon as he stepped inside, followed by Ron and Hermione, Snape's cold voice could be heard.

"You're too late. 50 points from Gryffindor."

"That won't be necessary, Severus. It's my fault they're late." Sam said, as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

Snape growled at her. "What are you doing down here?!"

"Why, Severus. It is a free country, isn't it? I just wanted to see how you're doing. I'm curious about your class, too, I must admit." Sam returned friendly, a bright smile on her face, as she took a seat besides Neville Longbottom, who looked suddenly enormously relieved.

Snape just stared at her for a moment, ignoring the expectant glances he was getting from the Slytherin, but choose to say nothing, except for a muttered "fine". He addressed his class again.

"I want you to repeat the Strengthening Solution today. Your last attempt was miserable, as you should remember. Others more-", he glanced at Harry. Malfoy snickered at that "-others less."

"Instructions-", he waved with his wand "- on the board. Go ahead."

Sam and Neville had introduced each other quietly and after half an hour into the class (and several suspicious glances from Snape), Sam whispered, nudging the boy besides her softly, "Salamander blood, Neville. We don't want to ruin it, do we?"

Neville shook his head and Sam winked at him.

At the end of the class, Snape looked around, glancing at Neville's seemingly perfect Strengthening Solution and glared at Sam again, but said nothing. She grinned. "You should better watch your eyes, Severus. We don't want them to stay in this position, do we?" Samantha quipped happily.

Snape swirled around on his feet, away from her, causing his robe to fly around his ankles. Each Gryffindor suppressed a grin, liking Samantha immediately.

"You know what to do. Put your mixtures into the cabinet. We will see in two days if you have made them correctly. Class dismissed." He said and left the classroom hurriedly.

After everyone did as told, the Slytherins left as fast as they could, leaving the Gryffindors and Samantha behind. They all grinned at her.

"That was the best potions- class we ever had." Said Dean Thomas excitedly, looking as if he wanted to hug Sam.

Everyone nodded at this. "Well I don't know how it is, if I'm not here." Sam said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Trust me, you don't really want to know." Seamus Finnigan explained, shuddering.

The class and Samantha left together and as they made their way to their next class -_Transformation_- they bombarded her with questions.

Sam was relieved when they finally reached their destination. As they entered the room, the Ravenclaws were already there, looking surprised at her presence.

The teacher wasn't there yet and the Gryffindors informed their friends from Ravenclaw what happened in _Potions. _

They laughed at that, as neither, except for the Slytherins, liked Snape one bit.

Professor McGonagall entered the room, smiling, as she saw Samantha.

"Samantha, how are you, is everything alright?" she asked with a slight hint of concern in her voice.

Sam nodded. "Everything alright, Minerva. Madame Pomfrey stitched me back together."

The class laughed at McGonagalls confused expression.

Then she understood and made a dismissive gesture, saying,"You lived too long with the Muggles, Samantha."

Sam tilted her head to the side, grinning.

It was Lunchtime and the students were filling the great hall again.

By this time, everyone knew already what had happened this morning in Snapes class and the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were deliciously amused, whispering and casting sideways glances at Snape, who was looking as if he would rather be somewhere else.

Samantha had got a chair besides her grandfather, at the teachers table, helping herself to some pumpkin juice.

This was one thing she had missed. She sighed in content, looking through the great hall and at the ceiling. It was bewitched, mirroring the weather outside, with hundredth of candles floating through the air, casting a comfortable light.

She began to eat, humming quietly as she popped some foot into her mouth. It was delicious.

Albus smiled at her, amused.

"It seems, you're enjoying yourself. I will tell our house elves that you liked the food." He said kindly, winking at her.

"You do that, grandfather. Pass it on. They did a great job." She answered, after swallowing another mouthful.

After a moment of silence between them, Samantha asked, "How is Harry doing at school? I hope he gets along well.", glancing quickly over at the boy, who was laughing with his friends over something.

"So you have met him already. Yes, he is doing fine, but it wasn't always easy for him, I would say."

She looked at her grandfather, a hint of concern on her pretty face.

"Oh, don't worry. He has the best friends someone could ask for."

"Yes, I thought that, too. What about with his...family?"

There was a short hesitation on his side, causing her to get suspicious.

"Well, you see, they're Muggles, not wanting to get involved with our world. But they raised him, nonetheless."

Sam sighed heavily. "Yeah, but the question is, how." her gaze drifting back to Harry.

It was afternoon, classes were over and Samantha was sitting in Dumbledore's study, alongside Remus Lupin, who just got back from London, getting her what she needed from Diagon Alley.

As soon as everyone was sitting comfortably, Samantha asked the questions, which burned on her tongue all day, but she knew at lunch wasn't the time to ask them. So she waited patiently until now.

"Why did you bring me back _now _and why are Deatheaters behind me? Why did they want to kill my friends?"

She looked expectantly into the round.

Her grandfather answered her questions.

"We brought you back, because Voldemort knew where you were. He was searching for you since you left our world, knowing you were the only one, besides me, who had the power to destroy him. He send his Deatheaters to kill you, because he thought, you, and we, were unaware of him knowing. He thought he could stop you before we could reach you."

Sam thought about what he had just said, then said, "Malfoy tried to kill one of my friends. If they are in any danger, I would like to have them here, with me. Save."

Her grandfather nodded.

"We have guards watching them. If he tries to attack them again, we will bring them here." Albus agreed.

Samantha smiled relieved, thanking him silently.

He smiled back, but became serious again.

"I should probably tell you something more." He said, and told her everything about the so called 'Order of the Phoenix', its members and its headquarters at Grimmauld Place, number twelve.

"That's Sirius Place!" Sam gasped, as she remembered.

"But how could that be? He's still in Azkaban, isn't he?" she asked.

And at this, Albus explained what happened two years ago.

Sam's eyes got wide. "He actually managed to escape?" she sighed. "And now he's stuck in another prison again." She whispered. "He always hated that house and the memories it brings along."

"Sadly, yes. But it is for his own safety."

"Yeah, if you say so." Sam said and fell silent.

A few moments passed, then Albus spoke again.

"Now, I would like to ask you a favour, my child."

"What is it?" she asked curious.

"We still haven't found a teacher for 'Defences against the dark arts'", he looked at Remus, then back at her, "and I would like it, if you would take this position. You are the best I can think of." He smiled kindly at Remus again, who smiled back, understanding.

Samantha looked surprised.

"Me? But I haven't done magic in years! I don't even know if I still can do everything I learned in first grade!"

Dumbledores smile didn't waver.

"Samantha, you are the most talented student I ever had, you know that. And you are my grandchild. I know you can do it and you know it, as well. You only need to hear into yourself, trust me." He encouraged her.

After a long pause of silence, she sighed and agreed hesitantly.

"Okay, if you really think I can do it…"

Albus' smile deepened. "Thank you. I know you can do it."

"Yeah, if I could, you can too, you know." Remus added, grinning at her.

There was a knock on the door and a second later, Professor McGonagall was sticking her head into the room.

"They are here." Was the only thing she said, glancing at Sam.

"Give us a few minutes, please."

Albus said and with a nod, she was gone again, closing the door with a soft _click_ behind her.

"Who's here, grandfather?"

"Your mother and sister, Samantha. They want to see you." He said softly.

Sam stared at him. "I haven't seen my sister in sixteen years and spoke to my mother only twice this whole time!" she said angrily, feeling like she was hit by a train at this news.

She jumped out of her chair, beginning to pace up and down.

"They were concerned, after they heard you had been found. I couldn't forbid them to see their daughter and sister."

"Well, I can't change it anymore, can I?" she murmured, still a little angry.

There was another knock on the door and Sam took an unsteady breath.

"Come on in." Dumbledore called and the door opened again.

Two women entered the room, followed by McGonagall, stopping a few feet in front of Samantha.

"Hello, Samantha." The older one whispered, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Hello, Mom." She whispered back, but didn't move.

Her mother escaped a sob and she pulled her second daughter into a tight embrace. After a minute she let go, stepping back.

"Hi, Elaine." Sam said, as her older sister did it like her mother, hugging Sam tightly.

"Hi, Sam. We've missed you." Elaine said, nuzzling her hair.

"Hey, grandpa." She greeted Professor Dumbledore, after letting go of her sister.

He smiled kindly at her and her mother. "I'm glad you are here. All of you." He said, looking at his family.

"Samantha, are you all right? We were so concerned." Evelyn Spade questioned her daughter, looking her up and down, searching for injuries.

"I'm okay, mom." Sam tried to calm her.

Albus produced with a small wave of his wand two other chairs and Elaine and Evelyn sat down.

"So, Sammy." Sam glared at her, hating it to be called by this name, but Elaine only grinned at her, going on, "Tell us what you did over the last years. I want to know everything! Job, men, home, stuff like that."

Sam growled at her, giving her the death glare.

Elaine lifted her arms protectively in front of her face, laughing.

"What?! I'm your sister. I have a right to know!"

"Yeah, Sam. Tell us." Remus quipped, giving Elaine back-up.

Dumbledore, McGonagall and Evelyn had small smiles playing about their lips.

Samantha muttered something incoherently under her breath, then sighed again. She seemed to do a lot of this in the last time.

"Well, it would be easier, if you would just ask me questions. I'm not such a good story-teller."

"Ohh, yeah. I like that. Okay, here we go. Your job?"

Elaine asked her first question.

"FBI." She answered, followed from a muttered "Wow" from her sister.

She cleared her throat, asking her next question.

"You live…?"

"…In New York." Sam concluded. Another "Wow".

"Men?" Elaine asked and grinned.

Sam groaned. After a moment she said, "Well, let me think…Hmm, I would say the highlight was my affair with my married boss." Now it was her turn to grin.

Everyone in the room looked slightly taken aback.

"What can I say? I'm a bad girl." Sam defended herself, still grinning.

Sometimes, she just liked it, to shock people.

At Dinnertime, the great hall was filled with hungry kids again and after everyone was seated, waiting for dinner to appear on the tables, Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat. Everyone fell silent at once.

"Before you will all enjoy your meal, I wanted to introduce your new teacher for 'Defence against the dark arts' to you. I am proud to have her agreed to teach you, as I am sure you will all learn from the best. From tomorrow on, my granddaughter, Samantha Spade, will teach you to defend yourself, should it become necessary." he said with a proud, but serious face.

The students from the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Huffelpuff tables were cheering, but the appreciation from Slytherin was not as big- had they hoped their head of house, Professor Snape, would finally get the position.

Sam blushed a little and smiled at the cheering crowd, but as soon as the empty plates filled themselves with food, the noise of clapping hands and happy screams of appreciation ebbed away and were turned into clattering of knives and forks, as the students began digging into their dinner.

The adults soon followed their lead, enjoying the meal.

The next morning, Samantha woke early.

Yawning and stretching in her too comfortable bed, she felt nervousness sweep through her body.

Today would be her first day as a teacher.

She sighed, not exactly knowing what to do- with herself or with the class, for that matter.

She thought about that for a few more minutes, then decided to get up and get ready.

Half an hour later, she was sitting in front of her plate, staring at her breakfast. She just couldn't bring herself to take a bite.

After a few minutes, she noticed that someone was staring at her.

She looked to her left and saw Hagrid, the gamekeeper glancing at her.

"Yer should really eat somethin', yer know." he said, still looking at her.

Samantha quickly glanced at her full plate and gulped a little.

"No. I don't think I can." she mumbled, shoving the plate away from her.

Hagrid smiled slightly. Well, she thought he did. It wasn't easy to see through the mass of beard on his big face.

"Tha's normal, I s'pose. As I had my first day 's teacher at Hogwarts, I thought I was goin' t' faint, yer know." He said cheerily.

Sam tried to smile back at him, but failed miserably.

"I really appreciate that you want to make me feel better, but I don't think it's workin', Hagrid."

Shrugging his big shoulders, he said, "It was worth a try, don't yer think?", and gave her a pat on the back, nearly knocking her off her chair.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Thanks Hagrid." Sam answered, trying to cover her coughs with her hand, as she reclaimed her seat.

From a few seats away, her mother and sister smiled reassuringly at her. This time, she could smile back.

The fifth grade students from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were already waiting for her, as she entered the classroom, still in Muggleclothes. She was so used to them, that she had chosen them, instead of the robes, Remus had bought her.

Everyone fell silent, as she had entered, waiting excitedly for their first lesson to begin.

"Morning, everyone!" Sam greeted the class and got a cheery "Good Morning" from them in return, most of the boys smiling dreamily at her.

She tried to ignore it, but a small smile was sneaking across her face, nonetheless.

"So, could you tell me, what you have learned so far? Then we could maybe just go ahead." She addressed the class and was eagerly informed about the happenings in the class and all she needed to know.

"As far as I can remember, your OWL's are coming up this year, aren't they?" Everyone nodded.

"Well, that's good for you."

As only confused stares met hers, she elaborated, "So you can just say it's my fault, if you don't know what to do."

She said, shrugging her shoulders, grinning slightly, as the class laughed.

"Then, please, take out your wands. I think it would be good to begin with a few revisions after the holidays and this way, I can gain an impression of your abilities."

Quickly, everyone began digging into their school bags, searching for their wands and Samantha smiled to herself. That wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be.

Near the end of class, as everyone was practicing the spell, jinx or counter-jinx, he or she thought they needed to practice, Hermione raised her hand into the air.

"Please, Miss Spade."

Samantha turned from Neville, who had a little trouble with a spell, to Hermione.

"Yes, Hermione? And, please, just Samantha."

"Samantha, Professor Lupin said yesterday, that you survived the Death-curse." Sam sighed, knowing this would come sooner or later. "And I'm sure, everyone would like to know, how that is possible."

She was right, it seemed. Everyone had stopped in their action and looked at her expectantly.

"Well, Hermione, I would love to give you an answer to that, just as much as I would love to have an answer myself. Fact is, I don't know how it is possible. I just know, that everyone is thinking, that I have special, well, more special powers than any other wizard, expect for my grandfather and Vol-" she stopped as she remembered that most witches and wizards were still afraid to speak or hear the name of the dark lord.

"You-know-who." Sam ended.

"And who tried to kill you?" Harry asked.

"They were actually not trying to kill me, Harry. They were trying to kill someone who I care very much for." Sam explained, trying to avoid answering to that question.

"So you jumped in front of the curse to save his life?!" Hermione asked.

"How do you know it was a him?" Sam smiled, winking at the girl.

Hermione smiled back and was opening her mouth again to ask another question, when the school bell rescued Samantha from the storm of questions.

The next morning, Sam was greeted by an unfamiliar face, as she stepped into the great hall. The witch, who sat on Samantha's place besides her grandfather, slightly remembered Sam of a large, pale toad.

She was rather squat with a broad, flabby face, little neck and a very wide, slack mouth. She had large, round and slightly bulging eyes and the little black velvet bow, which was perched on top of her short, curly hair, didn't help Samantha, to put the impression of a toad, who was about to catch a fly, with its long sticky tongue, out of her mind.

She hadn't noticed she had stopped walking, until Dumbledore cleared his throat softly. Sam jumped a little and hurried forwards, but stopped again as she stood in front of the witch on her chair.

Her grandfather spoke softly. "Samantha, may I introduce Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, to you. Professor Umbridge, this is my granddaughter Samantha Spade."

Sam tried to put a friendly smile on her face as she greeted the visitor.

She couldn't help herself, but that witch was making her uncomfortable, possibly a result from the cold eyes, with which Umbridge was staring at her.

Samantha was taken aback as the witch spoke. She had a fluttery, girlish, high-pitched voice, which just wouldn't quite match with her appearance.

"Miss Spade, it is a _pleasure_ to finally meet you. But I must admit, it came as a surprise, to hear about your comeback to our world. And about your presence here as teacher for 'Defence against the dark arts'. I was sure, your grandfather was aware that the Minister had someone else in mind for that position." She said, and gave Dumbledore a, what she thought, was a friendly smile, but Samantha shuddered at those cold eyes looked back at her.

At this moment, Sam knew, she disliked this woman to her very core.

"Oh, and who would've that been?" Sam asked.

The witch gave a girlish chuckle. "Me, my dear. But, nonetheless, I am going to stay for awhile."

Samantha was going to ask why, but her grandfather ushered her softly to the end of the table, where another chair had appeared, saying he was going to explain anyway.

As she made her way to her sister, she muttered under her breath, of how the school was going to survive, with someone like that Umbridge woman strolling through it.

As she sat down, she could see Harry staring at Umbridge with a look of shocked recognition on his face, and she asked herself, if she was the only one, who couldn't stand this woman after only a few minutes of her presence.

Everyone fell silent, as Dumbledore stood.

"Good morning!", he said. "As you all have surely noticed, we have a new arrival with us." He nodded his head in Umbridges direction. "Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and new High Inquisitor of Hogwarts."

Sam choked on her Pumpkin juice, nearly spilling it over her plate.

Elaine patted her on the back, but said nothing.

Samantha looked up again, and saw shocked faces staring back at Dumbledore and Umbridge.

Albus was going to say something more, but stopped and looked at Umbridge.

It took a while for them to understand why Dumbledore had stopped, but then Sam noticed that Umbridge had stood up. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, it wasn't easy to see.

"Thank you, Headmaster, for this friendly welcome.", she said in her high-pitched voice.

"I am sure we will all have a good time, when I see this happy little faces looking back at me."

Sam saw Harry look around and thought she knew what he was thinking. Sam couldn't see just one happy face. However, they all looked slightly taken aback, at being addressed, as if they were five-year-old's.

After another few minutes of listening to Umbridge's speech, Sam felt herself drifting away, not able anymore to listen to that fake, girlish voice.

She felt a headache starting to form at her temples.

Samantha growled to herself, wishing that witch would finally shut up and it seemed her prayers were heard, because that pesky voice stopped babbling and the friendly, soft voice Albus Dumbledores' could be heard again.

"Thank you, Dolores." he said.

"Now, please enjoy your breakfast." And with a clap of his hand, the plates filled themselves.

The students cheered, wasting no time to help themselves to breakfast.

Sam sighed deeply, appreciating that her headache started to vanish as fast as it had appeared.

That was going to be a long year.

**Hope you liked it at least a little. ;) Please, review. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the delay again. I hope you're still with me. And thanks to everyone who's reviewed! **

**Warning for some language in this chapter! Just to be on the save side...**

**Chapter five**

It was finally weekend and Samantha had the feeling that she had had more headaches in this few days, than she had in her entire life.

Umbridge was present in every class she taught, making notes on her clipboard and asking the students questions about her classes.

It seemed, the only ones who were giving her anything against Sam, were a few Slytherin, but she wasn't surprised over that fact.

All ahead was Draco Malfoy, who seemed to have a special relationship with her, consisting of hatred.

But that didn't surprise Sam as well, considering the fact that his father was a Deatheater, who had tried to kill her.

And that Samantha was friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione, didn't make things any better, because neither Malfoy nor Umbridge seemed to like especially Harry very much.

Sam was strolling over the grounds towards the lake, cherishing the warm sun on her skin.

She stopped as she heard someone calling her name.

"Samantha! Hey, Samantha." She recognised Harry's voice and turned around, seeing him, Hermione, Ron and three other kids with bright red hair, running towards her.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" she asked, as they came panting to a halt in front of her.

"Nothing. We just saw you and thought you would like some company.", Hermione explained.

Sam smiled warmly. "Yes, that would be nice." Then she addressed the other three teenagers.

"Sorry, but I can't quite remember your names. It can be a little confusing, with all these new faces." She shrugged, giving them an apologizing smile.

"Oh, sorry. These are my brothers Fred and George." Ron said, pointing at the twins, before they could say anything, "And this is my sister Ginny." He added.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Sam said, shaking their hands and the twins seemed to be drooling again.

Ginny rolled her eyes at them. "Oh, please. That is getting ridiculous."

Samantha laughed and took a seat under a big tree, watching how the sun rays broke themselves in the shimmering water of the lake. The others followed her example.

"Samantha, could I ask you something?" Harry asked after a moment of silence.

"Sure." she said, looking questioningly at him.

The boy sighed, then looked her in the eyes and said "You knew my parents, didn't you?"

Actually, it was more a statement then a question, thought Sam.

Now it was her turn to sigh. "Yes, Harry. I knew them pretty well. And I knew you since the day you were born."

Harry and the others looked as if the breath had been knocked out of them.

"You...you said...you said, you didn't know me." Harry stammered.

"I wasn't sure if it was you. A long time had passed, since I last saw you, you know?" she answered, truthfully this time.

Samantha laughed softly.

"If I had been eighteen by the time you were born, I would have been your godmother."

"Really? Then I wouldn't have to live with the Dursleys." Harry said sadly, looking at her.

"Are they that bad?" Sam questioned.

Harry laughed hollowly. "No, they are great. Loveliest people on earth."

Sam smiled again. "Ah, I see."

Samantha told Harry about his parents what she could remember, helping him, to get a better picture of them.

They talked about Sirius, how horrible Umbridge was and about all and nothing, until the sun began to set over the hills, casting the sky into beautiful colors.

A month had passed since Samantha, Elaine and Evelyn had arrived at Hogwarts. September turned into October and the days were getting slightly cooler.

Elaine and her mother had decided to stay for awhile, to have some time with Samantha, trying to bring back some lost time.

Samantha was doing a great job as a teacher and she was happy to know, that she still had control of her magic ability.

Sam hadn't thought that she would enjoy it so much (besides the constant presence of Dolores Umbridge, of course, who seemed to dislike Samantha's teaching abilities and the subjects which were on her syllabus).

But as the weeks passed, she missed her friends and her work at 'Missing Persons' more with each day.

Voldemort hadn't tried to attack them again, but her grandpa thought, it would only be a matter of time, until he would try again, wanting to lure Samantha out of her hiding place.

And he should be right again.

Two days later, he got an urgent message, saying, four Muggles would be arriving soon. Voldemorts Deatheaters had tried to bring them under the '_Imperius_' curse, wanting to use them against Samantha.

By evening, Samantha had nearly paced a hole in the entrance hall, nervously chewing on her lower lip.

Dinner was served in the great hall and Minerva McGonagall dragged her gently into the hall to her place, saying "You will know as soon as they arrive, dear. There is no use for you to let a perfectly good meal pass you by."

Ten minutes later, Sam was shoving her food around her plate, not able to concentrate.

She would see Jack and her friends again. Sam smiled to herself, but her face fell, as she remembered what happened the last time she saw them.

What if they didn't want to see her again, after the first shock had faded away?

But her thoughts were interrupted, as the oak door to the great hall was opened and the big figure of Hagrid emerged through it, followed by four smaller shapes, all very familiar to Samantha.

She stood slowly, but her legs weren't able to support her slightly, with anticipation trembling, body.

So, she just stood, waiting for them to walk through the -again- silent hall, towards her.

But, finally, she could make her legs move, as her friends were halfway through the hall, walking slowly, taking all in- the bewitched ceiling, which was showing a star clustered night sky this evening, with its many candles, which were changing height and floating slowly through the air.

She finally surrounded the table, waiting for them to come to a halt in front of her.

There was a moment of silence between them and it seemed that everyone in the room was holding their breath.

Then, suddenly, Jack grabbed her arm, pulling her into a tight embrace, kissing her temple gently. (Sam thought she heard somebody groan a little disappointed, followed by a hushed "I told you! But you two just wouldn't listen to me!")

"I've missed you, sweetheart." Jack said and Samantha drew him even closer, not wanting to let him go.

"I've missed you too, you know.", she mumbled into his neck, smiling.

There was a cough behind them and hesitantly they parted.

Sam looked into the grinning faces of Vivian, Danny and Martin, all glad to see her again.

"Hey guys. It's good to see you, too, of course." she said, a bright smile playing about her lips.

She gave each of them a hug, then turned again, saying, "Guys, I would like you to meet my family and friends."

And after everyone was introduced and Sam only wanted to strangle her sister ("So you're Sam's sweetheart. It's soooo lovely to finally meet you, Jack! We've heard so much about you!"), the arrivals took their seats on an extra table, with Sam by their site, and began digging into the food hungrily after their long journey (they had to take a plane, for they weren't used to travel by floo-powder or port-keys and it would have been a little uncomfortable with all the luggage they were carrying).

Between bites, they exclaimed "This place is extraordinary, Sam. I mean, look at the ceiling! And this castle!"

An hour later, (and after many disliking glances from Umbridge, which she tried to cover with a toad like smile, every time Samantha stared back) everyone was content and tired.

"Come on, I'll show you to your rooms." Sam said and led them out of the great hall into the entrance hall.

"And, please, stay together. The stairs like to move."

At that, her Mugglefriends hurried to keep up with her.

"Look at the pictures. They're moving!" Martin exclaimed, stopping in front of a picture of two old wizards, playing magical chess, looking up as they noticed they were being watched.

"What do you thought?!" one wizard snapped and Martin nearly lost balance, if Danny hadn't caught him. "That we would only be sitting here all day long, doing nothing?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Martin stammered, and Samantha just rolled her eyes, ushering them forward.

"Don't worry, Martin. In a few minutes, they will not even know we have been there. They are getting really old, those two." She said.

After an adventurous trip up the stairs ("Holy shit, Sam. How do you still find were you wanted to go, after all these direction changes?!"), they were finally in the right corridor, as Viv gave a little scream, gripping Sam's arm tightly.

"What?" she asked, but saw what had Viv frightened, the moment she asked.

"Hello, Sir Nicolas. Having a nice evening?" she addressed the nearly headless ghost, who was floating a few feet in front of them.

"Samantha, hello. Yes, indeed. A very lovely evening. How are your friends? They look a little pale."

"Ah, yes. They just aren't used to see a ghost, you know?" Sam answered.

"Muggles? Oh, interesting, very interesting." Nick said, floating a little nearer.

"Well, I think they just need to sleep right now." Sam said and dragged her friends behind her.

"Everything okay guys. He's a nice ghost." She said softly and then a little louder over her shoulder, "Goodnight, Nick. It was nice to chat, but I think they really need to sleep."

"Yes, yes. Goodnight, everyone." he said, and floated through the next wall, out of sight.

"Do you think you should warn us of anything more unusual?" Jack asked, as he had found his voice again.

"There is so much more unusual here, Jack, that it would take me weeks. So, just try to keep your eyes open." Sam chuckled at him.

Finally they had reached their destination and Sam stopped. "Okay guys, these are your rooms." She showed Danny, Martin and Viv their rooms.

"I hope you like 'em. If you want anything, my room is over there, at the end of the corridor." she said, pointing in the direction.

She turned to Jack who was standing behind her and explained, "If it's no problem for you, we are going to share a room." she blushed slightly at the knowing looks she was getting from Viv and Danny. Martin only swallowed and examined the floor.

"No problem at all, Sam." Jack said, trying to hide his grin.

"Okay. Goodnight, guys. Breakfast is around seven, but I think it wouldn't hurt, if you want to sleep longer. See you tomorrow, then." Sam said and made her way to her room, followed by Jack.

After the door closed behind them, Sam pulled Jack against her, kissing him deeply. After a moment they parted, gasping for air.

"Sorry, but I wanted to do this, since you entered the great hall." Sam said, smirking slightly at him.

"Oh, no offense, there." Jack said, pulling her back against his body.

"Actually, I haven't had a chance to thank you properly for saving my life, yet." Jack grinned, pulling her in for another kiss.

Later, Sam and Jack lay cuddled together, cherishing the body contact.

Samantha hummed contently.

"Damn, I hadn't noticed, how much I've missed this, I tell ya."

Jack chuckled, the sound giving Sam goosebumps.

"Yeah, I think I know what you mean." He said, dropping a kiss on her head.

"But I thought you had enough love interests strolling around in this school." He added in a fake jealous tone.

Sam hit his chest playfully at that.

"Thanks very much! What are you thinking of me?!" she said in a faked serious tone. He chuckled again, holding her body a little closer.

"Jack? What did the boss say that everyone of his Missing Persons team is missing?"

"I don't know. I had only time to leave a letter, after your friends came rescuing us…"

There was a knock on the door, causing both of them to jump slightly.

"Who's there?" Sam called, sitting up, with the sheet around her.

"The High Inquisitor and the Headmaster." sounded the girlish voice of Umbridge through the door.

Sam groaned.

"Just a minute." She called again, hurriedly slipping into her dressing gown, throwing Jacks clothes at him. After he was halfway dressed, she made her way to the door, opening it, leaning in the doorway.

"Professor Umbridge, what can I do for you?" she asked in a faked friendly voice, noticing McGonagall, Elaine, her mother and grandfather with a nod.

They all looked as if they would rather be somewhere else.

"You are aware, that this is a school, are you?" asked Umbridge in her usual voice.

"Yeeees." Sam answered slowly, not knowing what was going on.

"Then you are surely aware, that your behaviour is not matching your position as a teacher." She stated, but Sam only looked puzzled at her.

"Wait. Sorry, but I can't quite follow you." Sam said, casting quizzical glances at her other visitors.

"Well, my dear. I am right to say, that there is a man in your room, am I not?"

Sam only stared at her and then burst into laughter, holding her stomach.

"This is a joke, right?", she asked between gasps.

"Am I looking as if I would make any jokes?" Umbridge snapped, which caused Sam to only laugh harder, but after a few deep breaths, Sam sobered up again.

"So, what do you want exactly?" she asked.

"This is a school! There is nothing like fraternization! It is a bad example for our students." Umbridge nearly screamed hysterically, making sure, that the door to the Gryffindor common room, which was on the same floor, opened and a crowd of students soon filled the corridor, looking curious around to see where the noise was coming from.

Samantha chuckled again. "Well, it isn't as if we had done something obscene out there in the corridor, is there?"

Umbridge only snorted, glaring at Samantha, who had put that friendly smile back on her face.

"And may I ask why you brought all those along? Lookin' for back-up from my mother? Oh, and for your information - the kids didn't even notice until you started yelling." Sam added, staring at the High Inquisitor, who was looking as if she wanted to strangle the woman in front of her.

Sam shuddered at the thought of being touched by those stubby, little fingers of hers, then she felt a strong arm sneak around her waist.

"I'm sorry if we have done anything to upset you, Professor. We will make sure it won't happen again." Jacks deep voice spoke from behind her. Sam looked over her shoulder.

"We will?" she asked and he chuckled.

Umbridge snorted again. "This is unbelievable!" she howled, turning to her companions.

"Dumbledore! This is your granddaughter! I would have thought she had more manners. But, it seems, as if all those years with Muggles have done no good for her!"

"But Dolores" Albus said softly, "she's only human, as you are, too." (He ignored Sam's muttered "God, I hope not.") "There is nothing wrong with that."

Umbridge stormed away, muttering loudly to herself, leaving only grinning people behind.

McGonagall turned to the Gryffindors, who were all giggling and pointing at the scene in front of them.

"Now, now. The show is over, time for you to go back to bed." she said, ushering them back into their tower.

They mumbled disappointed, Fred, George and Lee Jordan casting longing glances back at Samantha, who blushed slightly.

Behind her, Jack chuckled again, whispering into her ear, "What did I say?"

Sam turned around and dropped a small kiss on his nose.

"Shut up and go back to bed." She ordered playfully.

"Yes Ma'am!" he said and followed her order.

As Samantha turned back to her visitors, she looked into the grinning face of her sister.

"What?" Sam asked.

"He's really cute. Does he have a brother?"

Sam blinked. "Sorry, but, no. And don't you dare touch him." She glared at Elaine who only giggled.

"Don't worry. He's all yours, little sister. Sleep well.", she added and winked at her younger sister.

Sam growled. "Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow." She said and closed the door behind her.

She only heard her mother and McGonagall talking about something like "Giving Samantha a more appropriate dressing gown to her next birthday", before the voices grew fainter and Samantha was welcomed back into Jacks warm arms.

By the next morning, rumors about last nights happenings had miraculously spread around school and everyone was talking about it, even the teachers.

Some actually thanked Samantha for standing up against Umbridge, ignoring the fact, which lead to all of it.

But Umbridge was too wrapped up in her revenge theories against Samantha, that she didn't notice what was really going on around her.

Sam assumed that her next lesson, with the presence of Umbridge of course, was going to be more dreadful then ever.

She wasn't going to let anyone notice how much strength it took her, though.

So, it came, that, when she entered her classroom, already full with Gryffindors and Ravenclaws again, she was welcomed with a deathly glare from the High Inquisitor.

She chose to just ignore it.

"Mornin', everyone!" she said and took a seat on her desk.

"Good Morning, Samantha!" they called back, then fell silent again, casting all slightly uneasy glances at Umbridge, who just begun to scribble furiously on her clipboard.

"We have ended our last subject and I must say, I couldn't have hoped for it to be any better. If you carry on as before, I see no problem for you with your OWL's." Sam said and smiled as she looked into happy faces.

"Today, I would like to practice the Stunning-spell with you and-"

the scratching of Umbridges quill had stopped and was replaced with a pesky '_hem, hem'_.

"- and for that, I would ask you to fetch the cushions, please."

The fifth grades jumped up to follow her plea, trying not to grin too obviously about Umbridge.

With a wave of Sam's wand, the tables and chairs floated to the walls, piling up against them, making room for the cushions.

As everyone was ready, Sam gave the instructions for the spell.

"…but, please, look out. We don't want to bring somebody to the hospital wing in a paper bag, do we?"

'_hem, hem'_

"Please, carry on."

'_hem, hem' _

"May I offer you a cough drop, Professor?" Sam asked friendly, causing some students to giggle.

"Oh, no need, thank you."

Sam clapped her hands. "Okay, kids. I want to see something." She said cheerily.

"Would someone like to make the beginning?"

'_hem, hem'_

"Are you quite sure you don't need a cough drop?" Sam asked again, this time through clenched teeth.

"Yes, yes, quite sure."

Sam nodded and directed her attention back to her class.

"What, no one? Oh, come on, guys!"

Harry raised his hand.

"I would like to, Samantha." He said and Sam gave him a thankful smile.

"Thanks, Harry. Someone else?" she asked and Hermione raised her hand, too.

"Good. You two know what to-"

'_hem, hem'_

"If you want to ask me something, I would appreciate it, if you could just address me, _Professor_."

"Yes, of course. Are you-"

"Good. As I said, you two know what to do." Sam continued, ignoring Umbridge.

The students giggled again.

Harry and Hermione took their places in front of a cushion, Hermione with her back to it.

"Ready?" Harry asked her and she nodded.

"_Stupefy!_ " Harry yelled and red lightening emerged out of the tip of his wand, hitting Hermione.

She dropped onto the cushion with a low _thud_, unconscious.

"Good. That was good, Harry." Sam said, raised her wand, mumbled "_Enervate_" and Hermione opened her eyes again, standing up.

"Everything okay?" Sam asked her.

"Yes, I'm okay." She answered.

Sam nodded, saying "Okay, everyone. Carry on."

The last half hour, Umbridge '_hem_'ed no more, but the sound of her scratching quill and the shouts of '_Stupefy_' filled the room, until the school bell could be heard.

The day passed and it was evening again. Supper time.

Sam could already hear the clattering of plates, as she hastened down the stairs.

She was late, because she had to correct some papers for a third class, fully forgetting time over it.

As she entered the great hall to have something to eat, she noticed a wizard with an emerald green robe sitting at the teachers table, who was vaguely familiar to her.

He stood up, as he noticed her presence.

Seeing the serious look on her grandfather's face, she became a little uneasy.

As she stopped in front of the table, he stood, too.

Thinking the headmaster had something to announce, the hall fell silent.

"Samantha, this is Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic." Dumbledore introduced the wizard.

Sam stretched out her hand, saying, "Hi, nice to meet you."

Fudge ignored her hand, saying, "_Hello_."

Sam shrugged her shoulders, digging her hand into her trouser pocket instead.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Umbridges exited expression, making her still more uncomfortable.

She cleared her throat softly. "So…Minister. What leads you into this little castle?" she asked.

"I am here, because I have received a letter from my Undersecretary and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, Dolores Umbridge." He announced, and Sam suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and to mutter '_I know who she is, Idiot_.'

"Well, that's nice. I, for my person, mostly enjoy getting letters." Sam said and some pupils behind her giggled.

The Minister glared at her and Albus said softly, "Samantha, please."

"What? I am only doin' some small-talk."

"I am not here for s_mall talk_, Miss Spade. I am here, because I have been told about some of your, well, attitudes." He elaborated.

"My _attitudes_?!" Sam asked incredulous.

"What's the matter with my _attitudes_?"

"Well, for example, your manners against the High Inquisitor, your teaching methods, men in your room-"

"_Men_ in my room? Are you calling me some slut?!" Sam ignored the gasp of horror from both Fudge and Umbridge, "There was only _one_ man, mister!"

Sam pressed through clenched teeth and she noticed how Jack wanted to stand from his chair, coming to her aid, but Sam only shook her head slightly, indicating she didn't need help.

"And what's the matter with my teaching methods?" she called.

"You are not following the syllabus." Fudge said with an attention seeking voice.

"The syllabus? You mean the trash about learning from brooks, only theoretically, with no practice? How the hell, are they going to learn to defend themselves out there-" Sam made a wide wave with her arm, "-if they have no practice at all?"

"The syllabus is highly respected!" Fudge called out.

"Bullshit!" Sam said and earned another gasp from them, followed by the eagerly screaming voice of Umbridge.

"You are on Probation!"

There was a rumor of angry voices, yelling "WHAT?!" as the students jumped from their benches.

"SILENCE!" Umbridge screamed and the noise faded a little.

Samantha only stared at her, finally saying "Fine. If it makes you happy! You don't seem to have a lot of fun, anyway."

She turned on her heels and left the hall, head held high, her long blond tresses flying behind her.

Out on the stairs to the grounds, she could hear the students protest, which produced a little smile on her face.

Sam's family and friends, with them Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys, canvassed the whole school, searching for her.

Finally, they could make out her shape in the half light, coming from the lit windows behind them, throwing stones into the water of the lake.

As they got nearer, they could hear Samantha muttering to herself.

"That damn little bitch. Who is she thinkin', she is? _High Inquisitor_!" she snorted angrily.

"_Probation_ ! Pah! She wants war, she can get it!" Sam hissed, throwing another stone.

"Sam." Jacks deep, but soft voice sounded from behind her and she whirled around, clutching his shirt.

"She can't do this, that little…" Samantha mumbled into his chest, as his arms embraced her, holding her.

Jack sighed. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. This is partly my fault."

She looked up, confused. "Why?"

"Well, she obviously couldn't stand it, that you are having a love- life and she has not." he stated, trying to light the situation.

"Oh, please. This woman is absolutely nuts. Who would want to have a relationship with her, anyway?" Sam questioned rhetorically.

Jack smiled at her. "So, you okay?" he asked.

"As okay as I can be, with this crazy woman after me." She answered and shrugged her shoulders.

"She will see what she is getting out of it. You better shouldn't mess with Samantha Spade, baby!"

Everyone laughed at that.

"That's right. Always being optimistic." Jack said, chuckling.

"Come on, it's getting a little cool out here." He added, as he saw her shuddering slightly. He put his arm around her shoulders, trying to hold the chill that was sneaking through her body, at bay.

She wasted no time to snuggle a little closer against his warm body.

"So, did Fudge leave, or do we have to endure his presence longer?" Sam asked and McGonagall answered.

"He is staying until tomorrow. It seems as though the High Inquisitor needs support." She snorted, her nostrils flaring slightly.

Dumbledore stepped forward. "I am sorry, Samantha. If I had known-"

But Sam spoke before he could end his sentence.

"Don't!" she said harshly. "Don't you dare blame yourself! As I said, this little…, well, she's absolutely nuts. You have nothing to do with it."

Her grandfather smiled warmly at her. "I am proud to have you as my granddaughter." He said, then added at Elaine directed, "Both of you."

The two smiled at him and together, they all made their way back to the castle.

Besides the fact that she was on Probation, Sam didn't noticed any difference. Umbridge was still sneaking around her classes as before and her girlish voice, that was now having an icy undertone to it every time she spoke to Samantha, was pesky as ever.

Well, one thing was different. Her lessons became boring, what she owed to the fact that she had to go after the syllabus, which meant the students were to learn only from books.

After a few weeks of uneventful lessons, Sam thought she was going crazy.

She had a lesson with students from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw again, who were all looking as bored, as she felt.

She was used to long hours of paperwork through her work at the FBI, but this was getting ridiculous.

With a _thud_, she threw the book ('_Voyages with Vampires_' by Gilderoy Lockhart), she had been reading, on the desk in front of her, clutched her hands over her eyes and growled frustrated, causing the students to look up from their books (_Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard) and Umbridge from her clipboard.

Sam felt her headache starting again and had the nearly unbearable urge to hit something, preferably the woman sitting in a corner of her classroom- and preferably with the clipboard of hers.

"Samantha is everything okay?" the concerned voice of Hermione Granger carried through the room towards her.

With a short hiss, Sam let the breath escape, she didn't even know she had been holding and let her hands fall into her lap.

"No." she said shortly and stood from her chair.

"This is just ridiculous!" she muttered, more to herself, than to anyone else.

"I don't understand what you mean, Miss Spade." And with a hollow, thundering ache behind her forehead, her headache deepened, as the high-pitched voice Umbridges' spoke.

"No, I didn't expect you to." Sam answered through gritted teeth, her eyes tightly shut.

"What?" Umbridges voice was dangerously low now, but Samantha had no problem matching hers.

"Please, _Professor. _Tell me, how somebody is learning from that book to defend themselves. Is he or she expected to _hit _the attacker unconscious, before running as far as you can? Or fetch _you_ for help?" Sam asked ironically.

"From what or who, for example, would you need to defend yourself from, Miss Spade?" asked Umbridge.

"Well, let me think. How about Voldemorts Deatheaters, for once?"

"How _dare_ you speak his name!" shrieked Umbridge.

"Or against Voldemort himself?" Sam added, ignoring the High Inquisitors gasps.

"There is no need for you to defend yourself against him. You-know-who is dead!" she screamed hysterically.

"How dense are you?!" Sam now screamed back at her, her headache continuously deepening.

The students were watching with wide eyes as the two women nearly strangled each other.

"You and the whole Ministry are sitting on your asses, brooding over another story you could tell about all those 'nuts' people who are saying Voldemort's back! And I'll tell you something." Sam yelled, slowly trying to regain back her temper, "I am one of those people!"

After a moment of absolute silence, besides Umbridges and Samantha's heavy breathing, Sam added, "And I'll tell you some more. He actually send some of his fellas to kill me and my friends. So, don't you dare, ever tell me otherwise."

"Liar!" Umbridge spat. "Why would he want to kill you? Or are you thinking you are something _special_, like your little friend _Potter _is thinking he is?"

Umbridge had no time to react, as fast as she was lying on the floor, with her arm on her back and Samantha's knee pressed between her shoulder blades.

Professor Umbridge shrieked again and the students jumped to their feet, trying to get a better look.

"Did you not understand me, Professor?" Sam asked sweetly.

"I said 'Don't you dare tell me otherwise'. But it seems you are not only dense, but deaf. And I should probably warn you, not to offend Harry again."

"How dare you, attacking me!? I am High Inquisitor of this school!" Umbridge mumbled into the stone floor.

"Yeah, I'm scared now." Sam shot back, but let go of her arm, nonetheless.

Umbridge crawled back to her feet, glaring at Samantha, screaming, "You are going to pay for this. Lying and screaming at a Ministry member! And attacking me!! I swear, you are going to pay!"

Her hysterical screams could be heard all the way to the headmaster's study, as she marched to him, reporting what just happened.

Sam was just patting her trousers, trying to get the dirt off of her, as the class begun to clap. Surprised, she looked up.

"That was great!" called Ernie McMillian, followed by Cho Chang's happy "Perfect!".

Harry, Ron and Hermione were grinning brightly, as were all other students in the room.

Sam cleared her throat. "Well…This woman was gettin' on my nerves."

As Samantha and her class made their way into the great hall for lunch, they saw Umbridge still snorting angrily, her right arm in a sling.

Sam caught Jacks eyes and saw him smirking at her.

She felt her lips twitch slightly at the corners of her mouth.

As she was about to sit down on her chair, Dumbledore stood, addressing her.

She looked at him and thought she knew what was about to come.

She sighed.

"I am sorry, Samantha, but I can't let you teach any longer." He said in a sad and disappointed voice.

Sam rubbed her forehead, nodding.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. I am sorry, too, grandpa." She said.

"Who is going to teach instead?" Samantha asked, but had a feeling, she knew it already.

Behind Dumbledore, Sam saw Umbridge grinning evilly at her.

**A/N: Yep, I'm aware that Sam may be a little out of character here, but I hate Umbrigde and I think I made that pretty obvious.**

**Please, tell me what you think:)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks again for the reviews. I always appreciate them! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter six**

Sam and her friends were permitted to stay, for they didn't know what Voldemort was planning next, but Samantha would have preferred to just leave.

Every time she crossed a Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Huffelpuff in the corridors, they looked at her with such sad eyes, that she nearly wanted to cry in frustration.

The lessons with Umbridge seemed to be more horrible then she had expected and after she had noticed that Harry's hand was bleeding occasionally (after a closer look, Sam saw the words '_I must not tell lies'_ etched into the back of his hand), Samantha was fuming.

One evening, as she was sure Harry was in the Gryffindor tower, she caught up with Neville, who was making his way to the portrait of the fat lady, the entry to the Gryffindor common room.

"Neville!" Sam called after the boy.

He stopped and turned around.

"Hello Samantha." He said.

She came to a halt besides him, panting slightly.

"Hey, I just wanted to speak to Harry." She said. "It would be nice if you could let me in."

"Sure." He said, turned around again and the fat lady asked, "Password?"

"Mimbilus Mimbeltonia!" Neville said proudly and the door swung open, showing a round entrance.

Neville climbed through it and Sam followed, then she stopped and looked around.

The common room was full of at least twenty people.

Some of them were doing homework, or reading, others were just chatting with their friends.

Harry and Ron were sitting in the comfortable looking chairs in front of the fireplace, playing magic chess, by their side was Hermione, glancing suspiciously at Fred, George and their friend Lee Jordan, who were selling something at a few first classes. Sam smiled. The room looked like it had, nearly sixteen years ago, as she had been student. She had been sitting often in those chairs near the fireplace, making plans with James, Sirius, Remus and Peter Pettigrew.

"Hey Harry! Here's someone who wants to talk to you." Neville yelled over the shrieks of two first classes, as Fred's head vanished.

Everyone looked up and Fred's headless body turned around to look who he was talking about.

Harry looked up from the chess board, where his knight was just being pushed out of the field, by one of Ron's figures.

"Oh, hey, Sam." He greeted her as she made her way over to them.

"Hey." Sam said and then added, "It's nice in here."

"Yeah, it is." He agreed.

"So, what happened to your hand?" Sam asked, coming to the point at once.

"What's with his hand?" Hermione asked suspiciously, but concerned.

"Nothin'" Harry muttered, letting his hand vanish under the table.

"Mmhmm…sure." Sam said and grabbed his hand.

"And what is this?" she asked him again.

He said nothing.

"Harry, please. Is this Umbridges' work?" Sam urged him.

"Is this what she is calling detention?"

"So what? What could you do?" he asked, trying to wring his hand out of Sam's tight grip.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Samantha asked, ignoring his question.

"This is completely crazy! This woman's a monster."

"I know." Harry called and Sam let go of his hand.

"Harry." Hermione said softly. "She is right. Why didn't you say anything to either of us?", after she caught a good look at his hand.

"I didn't want to get you in trouble. You know how she is." He said, and then admitted, "And I didn't want her to think I'm weak."

Sam groaned at that.

"Just like James. The same stubbornness."

Harry stared at the table in front of him and after a moment he whispered, "Why do you care what happens to me? Only because you knew my parents, doesn't mean you need to-"

Sam interrupted him, saying softly, "I just feel kinda responsible for you, you know. I was with Lily as you were born, Harry." She admitted. "There was an age difference between your parents and me, but they were my best friends, nonetheless."

Harry stared at her. "You were there when I was born?" he asked and Sam nodded.

Then she chuckled quietly. "Maybe you could call it 'Mother- Instinct'."

She cleared her throat and became serious again.

"Harry, please promise me, that when you're in trouble or you have something on your heart, that you're gonna speak to me, okay?"

Harry smiled gratefully at her. "I promise. Thank you."

Sam nodded and squeezed his shoulder softly.

Then she called over her shoulder. "You can go on. The heartbreaking scenes are over!"

There was suddenly a rustle of robes and a lot of clearing throats, as the other occupants of the room noticed that they had completely forgotten what they were doing.

Sam smiled and with a snap of her fingers, a bowl with yellow liquid appeared on the table in front of Harry.

Hermione gasped.

"How'd you do that? I haven't seen anyone, expect for house elves, doing something like that before."

Sam just smiled mysteriously at her and then said in Harry's direction, "Put your hand in it. It will help to relief the pain a little."

He did as told and felt a wonderful feeling of relief, indeed.

"Thanks. That feels great." He sighed.

"Good." Sam said and then bid them all a good night, before climbing back through the entrance behind the portrait.

The next day, Sam waited in front of the 'Defence against the dark arts' classroom for Umbridge to arrive.

As the time passed, more and more students, this time Huffelpuff and Slytherin, made their ways to the next lesson with their new Professor.

"Hello, Samantha." called a Huffelpuff girl in her direction.

Sam lifted her arm, to wave slightly at the girl, calling "Hello Susan."

As she let her arm fall back against her side, she noticed Draco Malfoy cast a dark look at her before whispering something to his fellows Crabbe and Goyle.

They laughed, but fell silent, as Umbridge made her way down the corridor to her new classroom.

She stopped, looking a little taken aback by Samantha's presence, but the next moment she looked as though she hadn't noticed her presence at all.

After opening the door, she ushered the student into the classroom and wanted to follow, but Sam called after her, "Professor! Could I have a word with you, please?" There was only a slight hint of pure dislike in her voice and Sam shrugged mentally, thinking, _'Well, I have tried._'

Behind Umbridges' toad like face, Sam could see the students casting curious glances at each other.

Umbridge gave her a short, neck-less nod and closed the door behind her, stepping back into the corridor.

"What can I do for you?" she asked in faked friendly voice.

"Oh, I just wanted to ask you-" Sam answered, her voice friendly, but became dangerously quiet as she continued, "-what the hell you think you are doing, _Dolores_!" she hissed and in Umbridges eyes was a dangerous glint now.

"Could you, please, be a little more specific, _Samantha_?" she hissed back.

"Oh, sure." Sam said. "Are you having fun to see the kids in pain? I mean, I know you're nuts-" Sam ignored her small gasp, "- but haven't thought you are absolutely mad!"

"What are you thinking with whom you are talking?!" Umbridge called furiously.

"Oh, believe me, I know only too well who you are. But you seem to have forgotten who I am, dear Dolores." Sam said friendly.

At Umbridge's blank expression, Samantha elaborated, "I am the headmaster's guest. So, if you want to punish me, you will have no luck. But I, otherwise, can make your life hell."

"Are you threatening me?" Umbridge gasped.

"If you want to take it as a threat that is your decision. Have a nice day, Dolores." Sam said in a cheery voice and a few moments later, she vanished behind the next corner, leaving a speechless High Inquisitor behind.

The whole hall could feel the tension between Samantha and Umbridge as they met in the great hall to have some lunch.

Just as Umbridge wanted to sit down, her chair slid mysteriously a few inches backwards, causing Umbridge to drop onto the floor with a funny chocking noise.

The students howled with laughter and the adults were smirking slightly, but as they saw Umbridges' face appearing from under the table, they fell silent at once.

Her toad like face was as red as the velvet bow on top of her head and her nostrils were flaring, making strange noises.

As she finally stood again, she whirled around and made her way over to Samantha, with a speed that seemed impossible for her short legs.

As she had reached her destination, she pulled Samantha out of her chair with a tight grip on her arms.

"YOU!" she howled, not noticing how Sam's friends had jumped to their feet.

"You little bastard!" she screamed in Samantha's face, causing a few spit drops to fly.

Samantha made a face.

"May I ask, what you are doing, Dolores?" Sam asked, her voice as neutral as it could be.

"That was you! You made the chair move!" she howled.

"But Dolores. What would make you think something like that?" Sam asked again.

"You threatened me!"

"Yeah? Do you have some evidence for that?" Sam said sweetly and Umbridge stared at her, still holding her arms tightly and her grip became continuously tighter.

"You little-" Umbridge begun, but Sam interrupted her.

"Are you seeing somewhere a wand I could have used? You must know, I forgot mine in my room this morning. I was a little, well, distracted, if you know what I mean." She said, pointing vaguely in Jacks direction behind her.

A few students chuckled.

Umbridge ignored her comment, saying, "Some witches or wizards can do something like this without a wand."

Sam grinned slightly.

"But I thought you said I am nothing special."

Umbridge grunted something incoherently and let go of Sam's arms, storming back to her seat.

After she gripped it tightly, she sat down.

Sam and her friends sat back down, too and Samantha resisted the urge to rub her bruised arms. But that couldn't wash the smile from her face, which she tried to hide behind her goblet of pumpkin juice.

The time passed, the days became darker and Umbridges days of 'peace' were certainly over.

With every opportunity Samantha got, she made her life hell, as she had promised and she got good support from Hogwarts poltergeist Peeves.

Sam thought he was having more fun then her with punishing Umbridge.

And it seemed the students were highly entertained every time something 'unusual' happened to the High Inquisitor.

Besides her little games, Samantha noticed something unusual going on with a group of students.

She had followed the happenings for quite some time, as she decided to do something.

Every once in a while, she heard a few Gryffindors, after nine in the evening, tip-toeing back to their rooms.

She couldn't make out a pattern, but that couldn't stop her from following Harry, Hermione and Ron one evening.

They were careful that they weren't being followed, but Sam had a few good tricks not to be seen.

She waited behind a corner, as the three stopped in front of a long wall and begun to pace in front of it with concentrated looks on their faces.

Sam nearly gasped as a door appeared in the wall and the three teens vanished through it. Sam waited a while and soon had counted twenty-five kids going through that door.

After a few more minutes, she was certain that no one else was coming and walked over to the door. After a deep breath, she opened it.

Sam stood surprised in the doorway, watching as twenty-five students were practising 'Defence against the dark arts'.

They were too engaged in their training, that they didn't noticed the intruder until Sam let the door fall shut behind her.

The kids jumped and whirled around, their wands raised.

As they saw who had stepped into the great circular room, they sighed and let their wands sink.

"Just out of curiosity." Sam said, "Is there something you wanna tell me?"

"How did you find us?" Harry asked.

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "I followed you." She said simply.

Harry and the others looked dumbfounded. "But we were careful." He said.

"Yeah, you were, but I'm trained not to be seen, ya know." Sam answered and then questioned again, "So, what's happenin' here?"

"We're practising 'Defence against the dark arts' now that we have Umbridge as 'teacher'." Ron explained.

"And with our OWL's coming up…" he trailed off.

Sam sighed. "How'd you find this room? It's perfect." Sam said, looking around.

"Dobby showed me." Harry said.

"Dobby? Dobby the house elf?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Harry answered, then he added, "So you're not gonna tell anyone?"

Samantha looked a little hurt. "You really think, I would run to Umbridge right away?"

"No! No, of course not. I just thought, well… I don't know." He ended a little lamely.

Sam shrugged again. "It's okay. I take it, you are teaching them?"

"Uhm, yes." Harry said.

Sam nodded. "That's good. You know what you do."

Then she turned around and made her way back to the door.

Behind her, the students glanced a little surprised at each other.

"Samantha!" Harry called after her, as she wanted to open the door.

She looked back over her shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Uhm, do you want…well, I mean, you've got time, haven't you? It would be good if you could teach us." Harry stammered.

Sam turned around completely again.

"I mean, I know, Umbridge has those rules and we are breaking them, but, well, you haven't got to follow them." He hastened to say.

Sam smiled. "You're right. I don't need to follow them." She stopped and thought about it for a while. The students were casting nervous and anticipating glances at her.

Then they sighed relieved as Sam said, "Well, why not? But I'm sure you are doing a great job as well, Harry."

Harry grinned at her. "Not as good as you, I'm sure."

"Well, then. Let's practice." Sam called cheerily, clapping her hands together.

Two weeks had passed and the DA -Dumbledore's Army- had met four times since Samantha had found out about them.

Harry had trained them well, Sam had to admit proudly.

The boy certainly knew how to fight.

It was past midnight and Sam and Jack were sleeping peacefully, when their slumber was disturbed by a knock on their door.

Sam rolled onto her other side, trying to ignore the noise, but after the third knock, she couldn't pretend any longer to be asleep. She was just about to stand up, when she noticed that Jack had beaten her to it. He was already at the door, dressed in boxer shorts and a t-shirt (Sam asked herself when he had put them on), and opened it.

She could hear the voice of Hermione Granger and saw her, followed by Ron and Harry, stepping into the room after Jack let them in.

Sam sat up in bed and looked at them closely.

"We're sorry to disturb you." Hermione said, blushing a little as she noticed that Samantha seemed to be wearing nothing, besides the sheet, that was slung around her body. Harry and Ron followed her lead and Ron's face seemed to be glowing as red as his hair.

"It's okay. C'mon." she said and patted on the bed, indicating for them to sit down.

After they took a seat at the edge of the bed hesitantly, Sam asked, "What's the matter? Is everything alright?"

Hermione cleared her throat, beginning to explain, "Harry has these strange dreams since Voldemort returned. And tonight he woke nearly the whole Gryffindor tower up with his screaming." Harry's blush deepened a little.

"And, well, you said, that he could always come to you, if he had something on his mind and I thought-" Hermione tried to explain, but Sam interrupted her, saying softly, "It's okay, Hermione. You don't need to defend yourself. I'm glad you came to me." Sam smiled calmly at the girl, then directed her attention at Harry.

"Harry, what are you seeing in your dreams?" she asked him.

He swallowed and then said, "That's always different. Sometimes Voldemort, how he is questioning one of his Deatheaters, sometimes just a long corridor, with a simple black door at the end of it. Tonight I saw him punishing a man called Avery."

Sam said nothing for a long time, remembering her strange dreams before all of this happened, but then whispered, "I'm not so sure that those are just ordinary dreams Harry." He stared at her and she had the feeling he was not surprised about that.

"Are you feeling something, when you're having these dreams?" Sam questioned and he nodded.

"When I am walking along this corridor, I have this feeling, that I must reach that door. As if something very important is behind it, something that I must have, no matter what." He tried to explain, and at Samantha's nod, he continued.

"When he was torturing Avery, I could feel his pleasure at what he was doing." Harry whispered, trying to get rid of the stinging feeling in his eyes.

Sam wasted no time and pulled him into an embrace, whispering, "It's all right. You will see, we will find a way to help you get rid of these dreams. I promise, Harry."

He just nodded and hugged her back, wetting Sam's skin with his tears.

After a few minutes he took a shuddering breath and pulled back, smiling weakly at her.

"I'm sorry. I hate it, if people think I'm weak."

Sam shook her head, saying, "It's okay to be weak, Harry. There's no need to be ashamed. Weakness is a part of us that shows us we are human, as are all of our other emotions. You should just be ashamed, if you hadn't got any of them."

Harry smiled gratefully at her, hugging her again. "Thanks." He whispered.

"Your welcome, Harry."

There was a sob behind Harry and as Samantha looked up, she could see Hermione wipe her eyes.

The girl laughed softly, as she noticed that everyone was watching her.

"Sorry, that was just so…so _heartbreaking_." She admitted and wiped her eyes again.

"It's just nice to see, that Harry has someone to confide in. He has just too much on his shoulders…"

"I would say he is very lucky to have friends like you two." Sam said and smiled warmly at the kids in front of her.

"And now, I would say, you three try to get some more sleep. And if there are some more dreams, Harry, you know where to find me, okay?"

He nodded, and the three climbed from her bed. As Ron looked back at her, he blushed again.

"Ron!" Hermione snapped and he jumped slightly. "You are just as bad as Fred and George! Stop staring!"

"Sorry." Ron mumbled and the three made their way out of the room. Before closing it, however, the heads appeared again, saying "Goodnight." together, disappeared again and the door closed softly behind them.

Jack had climbed back into the bed and watched his friend, confident and former mistress closely.

"You are concerned about him, aren't you?" he said, pulling her out of her thoughts. She sighed and let herself fall back onto the mattress.

"Yes. I have this feeling something bad is about to happen."

She whispered and snuggled back into Jacks embrace, trying to get back to sleep.

A few hours later, the two of them made their way down into the great hall, to get some much needed caffeine.

Sam had been able to go back to sleep only two hours ago, her head full with theories about Harry's dreams and poor Jack had tried to calm her half of the night.

Now they dragged themselves to their table with sleepy eyes and weary limbs.

Elaine couldn't help herself as she saw them enter the hall and called, "Couldn't get enough from each other last night, could you?" Sam only glared at her, as the hall filled itself with laughter.

"Shut up, and pour us some coffee." Sam called back and she and Jack sunk slowly onto their chairs.

Elaine did as told, and a few moments later the two sleepy-heads sipped their coffees.

As Sam looked up, she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione giving them apologetically smiles, but Sam only winked at them, smiling back.

"So, spill. What happened with you two?" Danny asked them over the table.

Samantha explained what happened last night and her thoughts about this in hushed tones, not wanting someone to overhear their conversation.

"But I don't think Voldemort knows about this connection he has with Harry, otherwise he would have done something about it by now. Well, but it could be he does it on purpose…" Sam whispered, more to herself, then to her friends.

"Why would he want to give Harry glimpses into what he is doing on purpose?" Evelyn asked her daughter.

Sam sighed. "I don't know just yet, but I'm working on it." She admitted, scratching her head.

"I should probably talk to grandpa about it. He surely knows what to do."

Evelyn nodded.

"Yes, that would be the best. And he surely would want to know, what is going on with Harry."

So it came that Samantha stood a little later at the stone gargoyle in front of her grandfathers office and said, "Fizzing Whizzbee."

The gargoyle jumped aside, the wall behind it split open and Samantha stepped onto the moving stone staircase, waiting until it had reached its destination.

Sam stepped at the polished door with the griffin knocker and made use of it once.

"Come on in." the soft voice Albus Dumbledore's called from inside and Samantha opened the door.

"Hey Grandpa. You've got a minute?" Sam asked and he smiled at her.

"For you all the minutes you need."

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"What've you got on your heart, my child?" he asked kindly.

"I want to talk to you about Harry." She began. He indicated for her to take a seat across from him and after she sat down, she continued.

"He came to me last night and told me he's having strange dreams ever since Voldemort's returned." She explained.

"But I don't believe those are ordinary dreams. I think he is just seeing what Voldemort is seeing…and feeling."

Her grandfather nodded. "Yes, yes. I had expected something like this." He said softly and Sam looked at him curiously.

"You knew about it?"

"Not exactly. I just knew something like this might happen. You see, Harry and Voldemort are bonded. Harry can feel if he's near of if he is having strong feelings. Though, it isn't surprising that they share the same experiences, if only in Harry's dreams."

"Can we do something against it?" Sam questioned.

"He could learn to close his mind against those dreams." Albus said and Samantha gasped suddenly.

"Occlumency! Of course."

Dumbledore nodded. "Exactly." He said and looked piercingly at her.

"Are you thinking you could still do it? Or should I ask Severus for his help?"

Sam growled. "As if I would demand from Harry to spend more time with this…" she cleared her throat. "Well, I would say I'm doing it myself." She concluded shortly, then stood up.

"Thanks, grandpa. I knew I could count on you."

"Every time, my dear." He said and she waved at him, before disappearing behind the closing door.

Samantha hadn't seen Harry all day, except for the times in the great hall, but she thought, that wasn't the perfect place to discuss something like that.

She waited until evening, when everyone was in their common rooms and made her way over to the fat lady.

"Password?" the portrait asked her and she muttered impatiently "Mimbulus Mimbeltonia."

The portrait swung aside and Sam climbed again through the round entrance and into the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey, Samantha." Ginny Weasley called, and she and her two brothers Fred and George made their way over to greet her.

"Hey, Guys. Sorry to intrude whatever you were doin'-" she said and gave Fred and George a small grin, "- but I must speak with Harry. Do you know were he is?"

At that moment Harry, Ron and Hermione climbed through the entrance just like she did, only a moment before.

"Well, I think that answers your question." George said and Sam threw him a look.

"Hello Sam." The three called as they saw her.

"Hey! Good that you're here. Harry, I think I know what we could do about your dreams." She came right to the point, not wanting to waste any more time.

"What is it?" Harry asked curious as they made their way over to the fireplace, sitting down.

Sam begun to explain. "It's called Occlumency. The magical defence of the mind against external penetration. This way you can defend your mind against Voldemorts thoughts and feelings. But be aware, it is not easy to learn. You must learn to practice to free your mind from all thoughts. You understand?"

Harry swallowed and nodded. "Okay. Who's going to teach me?" he asked.

"Well, you have the choice between Snape…" Sam noticed the look of horror that crossed his face and grinned slightly, "…and me. You choose. I'm sure Severus would love to teach you."

"Well, thank you, but I think I'll choose you instead." Harry said and grinned.

"I'm honored, really." Sam said and her grin deepened.

"Then we only need to see, when we are practicing. You have still your Quidditch and the DA." Sam mumbled thoughtful.

"Tomorrow evening would be good. The Ravenclaws have Quidditch training, that means the DA can't meet." Hermione whispered as two second classes passed them.

"Right, that would do. Alright, Harry?" Sam asked and the boy nodded.

"Then I would say we meet in my room after dinner, okay?" Harry nodded again. "Okay."

Sam stood up, stretching a little. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Good night." She said and made her way back to the entrance, climbing through it.

As she stepped onto the corridor, she nearly collided with somebody.

"Sorry." She said and looked up. "Oh, hey, guys. What's up?" she greeted as she saw Danny, Martin, Viv and Jack standing in front of her.

"We were just looking for you." Vivian said. "You seemed pretty thoughtful all day."

"Yeah, well." Sam shrugged. "I'm okay."

"You've spoken to Harry?" Jack asked, pointing at the door.

Samantha nodded. "Yes. I just hope it helps."

"It will, you'll see." Danny assured her.

They made their way slowly back to their rooms, as Sam asked, "Have you spoke to your family, Viv? You surely miss them."

Vivian sighed. "Yes, I have spoken to them, but you see, it's quite difficult to find a telephone in this castle." She chuckled softly.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Sorry about everything." Sam said heavily.

Vivian looked piercingly at her.

"About what?"

"That you are in this situation at all. They are searching for me, but you are stuck in this place, too. I'm sorry." Sam said again.

"Wait a second, Sam." Viv said and grabbed her arm gently, causing her to stop and look at her.

"This is not your fault, okay? We are only here, because Voldemort knows that you care about us. I can't speak for the others, but I'm glad to have you as my friend, Samantha."

Samantha swallowed. "Thanks Viv." She whispered softly and hugged her friend.

"I second that, you know." Danny said. "I am happy that I can count you to my friends, Sam."

Now, Samantha couldn't stand it anymore and her dam broke.

She hugged Danny, too and whispered tearfully, "Thank you."

Martin cleared his throat. "I can't say that I'm happy to only have you as a friend again, Sam, but I could learn to accept it again."

Sam smiled at him and after a short moment of hesitation, embraced him, too. "That would be great, Martin." She said softly.

After she stepped back, Jack put his arm over her shoulder, kissed her temple softly and said, "You see? No need for sorrow."

The next evening came and soon there was a knock on Sam's door. She turned from the window she had been looking through and made her way to the door, opening it.

"Hey, Harry. C'mon in." she said and Harry stepped inside.

"Very well, then I would say, let's come right to the point, shall we?"

"Yeah, why not? What shall I do?" Harry asked.

"You've brought your wand along?" Sam questioned and Harry nodded.

"Good, wait a second." Sam called over her shoulder. She stepped at her desk and took her wand.

"Albus told me you know about the Pensieve?"

"Yes. You can stow your thoughts away in it, can't you?" the boy said and Sam nodded.

"That's right."

She turned her attention to a cupboard in one corner of the room and took a shallow stone basin engraved with runes and symbols out of it.

Samantha looked at it for a moment, then put it back on its place.

"I don't think I'll need it, however."

Harry looked confused. "Why not?"

"I don't think there are thoughts you should not know of. But if you are uncomfortable with a little nudity…" Sam trailed of and smirked slightly.

Harry laughed and shook his head. "I don't think I will know your every thought after this one lesson."

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? Stranger things have happened."

She grabbed her wand a little tighter and said. "Well, let's start. I want you to use your wand to attempt to disarm me, or to defend yourself in every way you can think of, okay?" Harry nodded and Sam continued to explain. "I will be breaking into your mind. I've heard that you have shown aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse. You will see, that similar powers are needed for this. We will see how well you are going to resist. I will count till three. Brace yourself."

Sam raised her wand, as did Harry.

"One…two…three. _Legilimens_!"

As soon as she had struck, she knew he wasn't ready. She could see his thoughts, could see and feel what Harry was.

He was still a child, maybe five or six, watching a boy who she thought was his cousin, ride a new red bike, and Sam could feel how his heart was bursting with jealousy…The next memory flickered and he was a little older now, being chased by a bulldog onto the next tree and the Dursleys were laughing below on the lawn…he was in his first year again, sitting under the Sorting hat and it was telling him, he would do well in Slytherin…Sam could see a hundred Dementors closing in on him…Cho Chang was drawing nearer and nearer under the mistletoe…

Then she could hear Harry's voice inside her head, beginning to attempt to resist the curse and felt a stinging pain on her wrist. She lowered her wand and opened her eyes and saw how Harry was going to his knees, his shut eyes twitching in pain as he hit the ground.

His eyes shot open and he looked a little disoriented for a moment.

Samantha looked at her wrist and saw an angry weal there, like a scorch mark.

"Did you mean to produce a Stinging Hex?" Sam asked softly, helping him to his feet.

"No." his voice was bitter.

"Well, besides that you let me too far in, it wasn't so bad for the first try."

Sam tried to cheer him up a little.

"Could you see everything I saw?"

"Flashes." She answered shortly.

"Oh…" he looked at the floor.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to tell anybody."

"Want to give it another try?" Sam asked.

He nodded determined. "Sure."

"You must try to clear your mind, Harry. Try to let go of all emotion." Sam advised.

"Ready?"

He nodded again. "Yeah."

Samantha raised her wand. "_Legilimens_!"

Harry was on his knees again and Samantha could see a boy lying on the ground, staring with blank eyes up at him.

Sam lowered her wand, breaking the curse.

Harry held his face in his hands and Sam scooped down besides him.

"Harry." She whispered and he looked up.

"It's okay. We will try another time again."

He nodded and Sam helped him up again. "Get some rest, but promise me, that you will practise to empty your mind before going to bed, okay? It is really important." She advised.

"I'll try." He said quietly and Sam watched him, as he slurped along the corridor, over to the portrait of the fat lady and climbed through the entrance behind it.

She sighed, hoping that it would help in the end.

The weeks had passed and Sam and Harry had made a little progress it seemed. Christmas was approaching and Harry had dreamed only two times about Voldemort since they had started to practise Occlumency.

It was past midnight, the full moon was shining through the windows, casting silver light onto the bed and its occupants.

Jack had draped an arm over Sam's hip, hugging her to his chest and nuzzling his face into her hair.

He mumbled something incoherently into her neck, as a knock on the door disturbed his sleep.

Sam groaned sleepily as she opened her eyes. For a moment, she didn't know what had awoken her, but then it knocked again.

Groaning again, she entwined herself from Jacks arms and slipped into her dressing gown, dragging herself to the door. She opened it with half closed eyes, but was wide awake as soon as she saw Harry and Ron standing in front of it.

Both were pale and Harry was sweating and panting as if he had run a marathon.

"Harry! What happened?" Sam asked him quietly, not wanting to wake Jack.

"I have dreamed again. I saw, no, I was a snake and attacked Mr. Weasley. He needs help…he's bleeding." Harry stammered and Samantha didn't waste any more time and ushered them already out of the door.

"We need to tell my grandfather." She just said and dragged the boys along behind her, her bare feet patting over the cold stone floor.

Soon, they stood in front of the stone gargoyle again and Sam said hastily "Fizzing Whizzbee".

The gargoyle leaped aside like before and the three ascended the stone staircase.

Samantha knocked on the door and opened it. "Grandfather?" she called softly and stepped inside his office, followed by Harry and Ron.

The many portraits on the walls, showing former headmasters and headmistresses Hogwarts, pretended to be asleep, some of them snoring a little too loudly, others trying to glimpse, when they thought nobody would notice.

Albus Dumbledore appeared fully dressed out of the far end of his office and Sam hurried to explain what happened, not bothering to ask why he was already dressed.

He only looked piercingly at her for a few moments, then turned his attention at two of the pictures at the wall to his right, not even glancing at the two boys in Sam's company.

Sam saw Harry and Ron share a nervous glance out of the corner of her eyes, as Dumbledore addressed a witch and a wizard, who were still pretending to be asleep.

"Everard!" he called sharply. "And you too, Dilys!"

Both opened their eyes immediately.

"You were listening?" he asked and the portraits nodded.

"Naturally." The witch said.

"The man has red hair and glasses." Dumbledore described Arthur Weasley, Ron's Dad, and then ordered, "You will need to raise the alarm. Please, make sure he is found by the right people."

The witch and the wizard nodded and moved sideways out of their frames, but instead of reappearing in another portrait, neither of them emerged again.

Sam assumed they were visiting one of their other portraits. Some important witches or wizards were having more portraits hanging in other important institutions.

This way they could see and hear what was happening elsewhere.

"We will probably need a warning, if Umbridge is noticing something's goin' on." Sam said and Albus nodded at her, still not looking at Ron and Harry.

She made her way to a perch, where Fawkes, her grandfather's phoenix, sat and dozed with its head under its wing.

She stroked gently its golden head and it was awake immediately, watching her with its soft, dark eyes.

"We will need a warning." Samantha said quietly and with a flash of fire, the phoenix was gone.

Sam whirled around as the door behind her opened and Minerva McGonagall entered.

"Dumbledore. What happened?" she asked and looked around.

The addressed explained shortly what happened so far, as Everard reappeared in his portrait, breathing heavily.

"Dumbledore!" he called and the headmaster asked, "News?".

"You know, down there are no portraits to watch from, so I yelled until someone came running. Told them, I heard someone rummaging downstairs.

A few minutes later they carried him past me. Looks really bad, covered in blood…" Everard reported.

Before anyone could say anything, the witch, Dilys, came panting to a halt in her portrait. "They have brought him to St. Mungo's a minute ago." She coughed, and moped her brow with the curtain behind her.

Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you." He said and moved on to another portrait of a wizard, painted in the colors of the Slytherin house, silver and green.

Every other portrait didn't pretend to be asleep any longer, but the one Dumbledore attempted to rose, was still snoring loudly, not even blinking as Albus called him.

"Phineas. _Phineas_."

Some portraits begun to shout his name, too, and after a while, he couldn't feign sleep any longer and with a theatrical jerk, he opened his eyes.

Yawning faked, he said, "Did someone call my name?"

"I need you to visit your other portrait again. I've got another message."

Dumbledore said shortly.

"Again? This is starting to be a habit, Dumbledore." Phineas muttered.

Dumbledore ignored him and continued, "Please pass on, that he is having guests tonight. Six, to be exact."

Phineas muttered again as he vanished out of his frame.

"Minerva." Dumbledore said to the Professor. "Please go and wake the other Weasley children. They need to know what happened and please send a message to Molly, too."

McGonagall nodded and the room fell silent as the door closed behind her.

A few minutes later, after no word was spoken in the office, the door opened and McGonagall entered again, followed by the twins and Ginny, all dressed in pyjamas.

They all looked a little frightened and confused.

"Now, that we're all here…" Dumbledore said and took an old kettle from a cupboard, put it on his desk and muttered "_Portus._" The kettle glowed softly for a moment.

"You have all travelled by port-key?" he asked the teenagers and as they all nodded, he said, "Then we don't want to waste anymore time, before we got another visitors."

McGonagall nodded shortly and stepped back as the others all took their places around the desk.

"On three, then. I will see you soon, until then, Samantha will be staying with you." Albus said, stepped back, too and everyone else stretched out their right arm.

"_One…two...three_ ." Everyone gripped the edge of the kettle and Samantha felt a jerk behind her navel. Her feet left the ground and she whirled around herself. Her eyes begun to sting as the wind swirled around her. Soon, her feet hit the ground again and she tugged at her dressing gown, bringing it back in place.

She looked around. The kitchen they stood in was vaguely familiar to her. She was once here, a long time ago. There were many chairs around the big table in the middle of the room and the fireplace in one corner was casting a warm light.

"Glad you're back." Came a deep voice from behind her and she turned around.

"Oh, and who've we got here?" Samantha had to look twice, before she knew who he was.

"Sirius?" she asked and as he grinned a smile spread across her face, letting her momentarily forget why they were here.

"Hey, Samantha. Remus has told me you're finally back with us." Sirius Black said and hugged her tightly. As he noticed, however, what she was wearing, he stepped back again, grinning.

"Now, I finally know what you are wearing at night." He laughed.

Sam blushed a little and mumbled, "I just hadn't had any time to dress, yet."

And with a snap of her fingers, the dressing gown disappeared and was replaced by a jeans and sweater.

"But we're not here to chat about my dressing habits, are we?" Sam said and at Sirius nod, they all took a seat at the table.

"Phineas Nigellus already told me Arthur's been injured." Sirius said. "But he didn't say what happened."

Harry tried to say something, tried to explain again what he had seen in his dream, but as Sam noticed he was having trouble to speak, she told them instead what had happened. Harry looked thankfully at her.

After she had finished, the room was silent, except for the quiet sobs coming from Ginny.

"Is he going to die?" she asked in a tearful voice.

Samantha got up from her chair and sat back down on the armrest of Ginny's chair, hugging her to her chest. She hugged her back and Sam whispered calmly words to her.

"He's going to be okay, you'll see." She said, stroking the girl's bright red hair.

Sirius had found a few bottles of butterbeer in the fridge and the hours passed, but finally, they could hear the front door open and close softly and steps coming nearer.

The door to the kitchen opened and another bright red head appeared in the doorway.

"Mom!" all Weasleys jumped from their seats and embraced their mother, calling "Have you seen Dad?", "Is he okay?" or "How bad is it?".

Molly Weasley tried to calm her children. "He is going to be okay. He has been found in time. The injury wasn't as bad as we thought." She sighed heavily, dropping into a chair.

"Thank you, Sirius, for looking after the children." She said and looked up for the first time. This was, when she noticed Samantha sitting across from her.

Mrs. Weasley looked a little confused.

"I'm sorry, dear. I haven't noticed anyone else." She extended her hand and Samantha shook it.

"I am Molly Weasley." The woman said and smiled warmly at her.

"Samantha Spade. Nice to meet you." Sam introduced herself and saw a look of recognition pass Mrs. Weasleys face.

"Oh, you must be Albus Dumbledores granddaughter." She called, smiling brightly. "It is _so_ nice to meet you, Miss Spade!"

Sam smiled back. "Yes, that would be me, and please, just Samantha."

"Samantha! My children have mentioned you in their letters, you know? They are quiet fond of you." Mrs. Weasley told her.

"Really?" Sam asked and looked at the blushing kids.

"Well, I like 'em, too." She said, a smile playing about her lips.

As Ron yawned widely, Sam added, "I think it would be good, if we would all try to get some more sleep."

"Yes, yes, indeed." Molly Weasley called and ushered the children into their rooms. "Look out to make no noise. We don't want to wake Mrs. Black." She called softly after them.

This time it was Sam's turn to look confused.

Molly smiled at her and explained, "The portrait of Sirius' Mother is hanging in the hall and she isn't very fond of quests, you must know."

Sam nodded understanding, vaguely remembering the one time she had visited Sirius, despite his warnings, at home. It wasn't the best time of her life and she could absolutely understand why Sirius hated to be here.

Molly spoke again. "The children have been here before over the summer holidays. They can sleep in their old rooms." She said.

"Come on, dear. I think we will find a room for you, nonetheless."

"If not, you can sleep in my bed, Sam." Sirius grinned, ignoring the glare he was getting from Mrs. Weasley.

Sam smiled at him, saying, "Thanks for the generous offer, Sirius, but I don't think my boyfriend would be very fond of the idea."

Sirius face fell. "Boyfriend? Ah, well…" he muttered and added a "See you tomorrow.", before shuffling out of the kitchen.

Sam chuckled softly. "Still the same macho, I see." She said and followed Mrs. Weasley to her room.

**A/N: Thanks for reading and being so patient with me. I hope I can update sooner the next time. **


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